While Others Found Success
by Lux's Sister
Summary: Some found betrayal. When King Dendup betrays Onderon, becoming just as bad as his predecessor, questions soon start to resurface. What does Dendup want with Onderon? What really happened the day Steela died? Saw, Lux, and the rest of the rebels may be out of commission, but they still have rebel blood. [Sequel to While Others Followed Orders, can stand alone. Very AU]
1. Explanation of the AU

**WHILE OTHERS FOUND SUCCESS**

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, or the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I do own Sierra Bonteri.

 **Explanation of the AU**

This is a sequel to "While Others Followed Orders." If you didn't read that story, please go read that now.

If it's been a while since you read it, then hopefully I can fill you in, here.

 _This story takes place in an alternate universe where Ahsoka didn't go to Raxus. Thus, she never met Mina Bonteri. "Heroes On Both Sides" happened when Padme went to Raxus by herself. She was delighted to spend time with Mina and Mina's husband, John. John and Mina's children, Lux and Sierra, were at boarding school._

 _In order to exact revenge (or to fulfill a careful plan), Dooku split up the Bonteri family. He told Lux and Sierra that their parents were dead. The kids discovered an abandoned plot to kill John and Mina, and sought shelter with Padme. This is how Lux and Ahsoka met. "A Friend in Need" and the Onderon Arc happened normally._

 _Dooku told John and Mina that the kids were dead, and transferred John's job to a prison on Aargonar. While he was working there, Ahsoka is captured and brought in. John is assigned guard duty over her._

 _Ahsoka had been poisoned on the battlefield, and was very sick. John feared for her life, and broke her out of jail. She recovered under Mina's care, and returned home._

 _In John's workplace, a commanding officer mentions carefully outlaid machinations that have already begun to unravel._

 _Now, enter our forgotten Bonteris, Lux and Sierra._

 _I present to you, "While Others Found Success"_


	2. Ramen Noodles Are A Girl's Best Friend

**CHAPTER 1- RAMEN NOODLES ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Clone Wars. But I do own Sierra and Hero.**

 **SIERRA**

Lux has come home in an extremely foul mood. Therefore, I ask the only safe question.

"Do you want plain or cheese noodles?"

My big brother gives me The Look. "Plain." He says finally.

As I start the water, Lux sits down at the kitchen table. "Why does this have to happen?"

"Well, if the guard doesn't want you, maybe the militia will," I point out.

"I tried both today. They didn't even say they'd call me back. The king doesn't need any more advisors, the palace doesn't want me, the guard said I don't look threatening enough, the militia just left me." He facepalms on the table. "I'm going to apply at the supermarket."

"You don't have to," I say, adding the noodles. "You know, we still have the HoloNet and some very rich old friends."

 _"No,"_

"Lux, we're living on noodles and tap water! They can spare a couple credits."

"You're not doing that again. Mom and Dad would never have done that."

I roll my eyes. "It's not wrong if you're doing it for a good cause. That's my mantra."

"No."

"You're not the boss of me," I repeat with that totally first-grade inflection.

"Actually, I _am_ the boss of you," Lux says triumphantly. "I'm the big brother."

"Well, if I don't do it, then what are we going to do? Don't we have any money left from Mom and Dad's life insurance?"

"Sierra. Think about that for like a minute. Dooku drained the funds after my little, ah, _stunt_ on Mandalore."

I point at him with the noodle spoon. "So, you're allowed to call out Dooku in front of the peace convention, drag some poor unsuspecting girl to Carlaac, and join Death Watch, but I'm not allowed to ask my first grade teacher for payback on some first grade loan?"

"That was an accident."

"Oh, sure. Tasering somebody is an accident?"

Lux gives me a look. I flip open my phone to read the text messages I still have from that day.

 _Me: Lux, where are you? You were supposed 2 b home an hour ago._

 _Lux: Got sidetracked sorry. Finding new place 4 us 2 stay._

 _Me: Where r u?_

 _Lux: It's a surprise_

 _Me: UR SIGNAL IS COMING FROM CARLAAC. U R SUPPOSED TO B ON MANDALORE!_

 _Lux:_

 _Me: come home or u will never see the light of day again._

 _Me: Lux!_

 _Me: LUX!_

"Sierra, there's this thing called a crime," Lux explains. "Extortion is one."

"Kidnapping is, too!" I retort, stirring the noodles.

"Will you let that go?"

"Will you let me get us some money?"

Lux stands up. "We don't need money that badly. We'll be fine."

I open the cupboard, which old Mother Hubbard would be very proud of.

"We have one last container of noodles. Even if you get hired tomorrow, you won't get paid for like two weeks. If you don't want me to do something about it, then I have to apply for food stamps. That's when people start saying the O word."

Lux pales. "The O word?"

Orphanage.

"Will you watch the noodles? I need to fix some stuff." I ask, and slink into the office where we keep the computer.

When I boot up the computer, the password icon pops up.

 _Oh, Lux. Why do you use "Ahsoka" for all of your passwords?_

I quickly bypass the password and open the HoloNet. Would I get lucky enough to crack Dooku's bank? Maybe. Probably not, but till I try I'll never know.

Suddenly, the old-timey phone near the computer starts to ring. _What? Who would be calling on that thing?_

"Sierra!" Lux roars just as the last piece clicks into place. Seriously? How did Lux even _find_ a computer that uses dial-up HoloNet? Did he get it just to monitor me? Probably. Am I going to rip it out the first chance I get? Definitely.

"I'm just trying to search something on the HoloNet!" I complain.

"Oh yeah? What?" Lux demands.

"Noodle recipes." I deadpan.

"For what? We don't have anything but the noodles themselves."

"I was gonna borrow the ingredients from the neighbors." I replied, making a mental note to actually try that tomorrow.

"Seriously? The king owes me one, I can get food there."

"Take five seconds, think, and tell me how well you see that ending for you. 'Hi, Your Majesty. Can I please have some food from your royal kitchen for my sister, because you owe me a favor? I got you back on your throne, and all. Yeah, that'll go real smooth. About as smooth as the electro-guillotine!" I reply.

"It'll go a lot smoother than if the cops show up because you just robbed a bank!"

"Lux, I think we made a mistake."

Lux blinks, but he knows what I'm talking about. "Don't talk about it, Sierra."

The dial-up HoloNet finally starts up, and I type "noodle recipes" into the search bar just to be safe.

"I'll go borrow some food from Saw. He's got a pantry and a paycheck. What do you need, Sierra?"

I click on the first recipe I see. "Ground meat and shredded cheese. Do you think Saw has that?"

"Probably. I'll be back." Lux says, and walks out the door.

The nanosecond he leaves, the phone rings, and the HoloNet crashes. I swear, and accidentally knock the phone off its hook.

"Oh, for the love of the Force!"

 **LUX**

" _The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."_

 _-Animal Farm_

It doesn't take very long to get from my apartment to Saw's, but I walk slowly to digest my little sister's words.

" _I think we made a mistake." Well, I think we made a mistake, too, but it's not like I'm going to give voice to it when the windows are open! I'm not stupid._

 _Oh, come off it. I am stupid, I let this happen._

The "mistake" I speak of is the coronation of Ramses Dendup as King of Onderon. During the Rebellion, we were completely focused on getting rid of the Separatists that we were fools, blind _fools_ to what was right under our noses.

What possessed us to ignore the fact that our beloved king may not have been the same man who was kicked off his throne? That he could possibly have changed before our very eyes?

I think I know what did. That man, for all his frail appearance, still has incredible charisma. He can make people like him at the drop of a hat. He did it with me, when he patted my shoulder and told me my mother would be proud.

 _Oh, Mom! I'm almost glad you aren't here to see what a grave I've helped dig for Onderon._

 _And Ahsoka…oh Force, Ahsoka._

Anakin Skywalker called me about a week ago.

"Have you seen Ahsoka lately?" He asked, very tense and worried.

"No, not for a while now. Why? Is something wrong?"

Skywalker took a deep breath. _"Bonteri, if she's there, just let her know that whatever choice she makes, I still love her. I don't care what she's done."_

"General Skywalker, she's not here. What's all this about."

 _"Ahsoka is missing."_

I almost dropped the phone. "What?"

 _"She disappeared on Aargonar yesterday. I thought that maybe she came to you, and-."_

"You thought Ahsoka and I were going to elope?"

 _"That's the long and short of it."_

"Master Jedi, Ahsoka and I have no plans for something like that whatsoever. To be honest, that's not even on my radar right now. Is she all right?"

 _"If she's not with you, then I can only think of one place she could be. Captured."_

"Oh, Force. Please call me if you know anything, Master Jedi."

….

I blink back my tears, and almost do another lap around the block so Saw doesn't see my fledgling tears. But curfew is quickly approaching, and I can't get stuck at Saw and Hutch's for tonight

When I knock, Saw answers the door.

"Bonteri, what are you doing out here?" he demands, stepping aside to let me in. "Curfew's in ten minutes."

My cheeks flame. "D-do you have some cheese I can borrow? Or extra ration sticks? Anything? I-I just didn't get to the grocery store. Please?"

Saw sighs and sticks his head back to the kitchen. "Hutch, get one of those frozen pizzas and a few cans of soup for Bonteri, will ya?"

"Please Saw, I only need something for tonight."

Saw huffs. "Yeah? How'd your job hunting go today?"

"I'm still putting in applications. I'm bound to get a hit on one soon enough," I say.

Hutch emerges from the kitchen with a shopping bag. "Hey, Hutch." I greet. Hutch nods in reply.

But Saw carries on the conversation as if his roommate isn't there. "Yeah. So you're unemployed, have exactly no income, and are coming to me asking for food." He crosses his arms. "I can guess what's going on."

My face flushes. "Sierra and I are fine."

"Listen. If you don't have food, come here for dinner. If you can't pay rent, get your butt over here and I'll help you out. Just whatever you do, don't apply for welfare."

"Saw, if I don't get hired in the next week, welfare's my only option!"

Hutch leans his ear against the door for a second, as if to check that it's all clear. When he gives the thumbs-up, Saw grabs me, pulls me close, and speaks in a low whisper.

"Listen, Bonteri. You think I haven't noticed how close the King's been keeping an eye on us? Especially our sisters?"

My eyes widen. _He can't possibly be talking about the Steela incident…_

"You go on welfare, and that's the perfect chance for Dendup to swing in and grab your sister." He hisses. "And I likelittle sisters. They're cute, even if they made you sit through about a million tea parties when they were five. They belong with their big brothers. Notin some orphanage that never got fixed after the rebellion. And once she's gone, _you'll never find her."_

He pushes me away. "Go home now. It's too close to curfew. Oh, and come over for dinner tomorrow night."

I nod. "Thank you, Saw. Thanks, Hutch."

"No problem," Hutch mutters, and all but shoves me out the door.

Sigh. Typical Hutch and Saw. But it's their only way of showing our friendship.

As I hurry back to my apartment, I see the police already pouring into the streets for curfew. Luckily, the rebellion's made a fast runner out of me, but my apartment is still five minutes away.

Curfew's in three, and the police have their eyes glued to me.

I take a deep breath, and pour every ounce of my being into running.

 **Hello again, everyone, and thank you all for checking out "While Others Found Success." This story is going to be a lot more sarcastic and humorous than the first one, probably bordering on satirical. That is mainly the reason for the T rating.**

 **So, how was this start? Reviews are always welcomes, as is constructive criticism, especially in the OC department. Sierra's Sueish-ness is intentional, as I will be making fun of it throughout the entire story, but I would like to know what you thought of her. With that in mind, flames are only good for lighting my stove.**

 **Thank you all,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	3. The University of Onderon Did It

**CHAPTER TWO- THE UNIVERSITY OF ONDERON DID IT**

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own the Clone Wars. But I do own Sierra Bonteri and Hero.

 **LUX**

The first clue we had that Dendup maybe wasn't all he seemed to be was during the final battle of the rebellion, on that cliff where Steela lost her life.

When the gunship struck the cliff, Ahsoka and I were knocked back by sheer force. When we fell, we were stunned.

Saw dropped his rocket launcher and ran for the path to get up to the cliff and rescue Steela. Everyone else was busy mopping up the last of the droids, and it would seem that no one witnessed our leader's deadly plunge.

No one, that is, except Hero.

Hero was one of the younger rebels: small, average with a gun, but she had an eagle eye. Whenever one of us lost something, we'd simply ask Hero to help us look for it and it would be found in seconds. She was the one who spotted the debacle on the cliff and shouted "Look!" to Saw. As he ran off to go save Steela, she stayed behind and watched in horror.

When the cliff started to crumble, Steela shoved King Dendup to stable ground, and grabbed the cliff. Then when I failed to rescue her and Ahsoka tried to lift her with the Force, only for Steela to be dropped to her doom. It was a freak accident, but Steela gave her life for Onderon. She was a martyr.

At least, that's what everybody thinks. After Steela's funeral, Hero pulled Saw and I aside and told us a very different story.

Eyes sparkling with fear, she whispered. "They're lying."

A grief-ridden Saw fixed her with a look. "What do you mean, they're lying?"

Hero peeked over her shoulder as if to check that the coast was clear, and then whispered. "I saw it. Steela didn't push the King. He pushed Steela."

She grabbed Saw by the front of his shirt. "Don't tell anybody. I'm the witness. And I'm scared."

Then she scurried away, leaving Saw and I standing there stunned.

We had been completely duped. Dendup wasn't in league with the Separatists, that's for certain. But his policy of neutrality was nothing but a conniving, cruel design to keep Onderon isolated from the rest of the galaxy…to make sure we couldn't scream for help in our darkest hour.

Only two weeks after the droid army was defeated, Dendup instilled the new curfews. For our own good, he said. The public works crews needed the streets clear for reconstruction. Nobody really questioned why they were going to rebuild in the middle of the night.

With everyone penned up in their homes by 2000 hours, putting in the new regulations was easy. There are no restrictions on who can be arrested and kept in jail. Force help anybody who writes a newspaper criticizing Dendup. Trials aren't even necessary anymore.

That was about the time I was booted as Senator. You don't need a Senator if you're not going to any Senate.

A policy of isolationism was drawn up to replace the Treaty of Iziz, and since then living on Onderon has reminded me of a book that's now banned. It's called _1984._

A few days ago, Sierra asked me a question.

"I don't get it," she said. "We _just_ fought a rebellion. Onderon doesn't take crap very easily. Why isn't someone doing something?"

"Here's why: Steela."

"What?"

I snorted. "Steela was the heart and soul of our rebellion, sis. Without her, we were hopeless. And she's dead."

I didn't tell her what Hero saw for a few more weeks. When she found out, she freaked.

"Lux, that's murder! He could be dethroned for that."

"He's the King! He _is_ the law."

Sierra crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure if the people find out that he murdered _Steela Gerrera,_ they might be forced to honor her memory with a-."

"Sierra, pipe down!" I hissed. "The walls in this building are paper thin. Do you want somebody turning us in to Dendup? Who might have pushed _you-know-who_ off a _you-know-what_ to her doom? Something make you think that he's above doing the same thing to you?"

Sierra looked sufficiently scared. Good. There's an old saying that fear is a great motivator. That's wrong.

Fear is the _ultimate_ motivator.

 **SAW**

Hutch and I turn our apartment upside down looking for something to make into dinner for Lux and Sierra.

"This is hopeless. We survive on bagels, Nutella, frozen waffles, canned soup, and frozen dinners." I mutter. "We don't have anything for company."

Hutch sighs and reaches into our freezer. "Look, Saw. _Dinner!"_ he says melodramatically, brandishing four TV dinners.

"TV dinners." I stare at them. _Oh, what the heck. It's Bonteri. I don't even care._

Hutch shells them out of their wrappers and places them in the oven.

"It's not like we can cook, anyway." He points out, covering the potato and dessert with a piece of tinfoil.

"True enough." I grumble, setting out forks on the table.

Lux and Sierra arrive a few minutes later, toting a jar of instant iced tea.

We settle down to out TV dinners and pleasant conversation. Lux talks about his job interview. I talk about working in the palace. Hutch tells us a story about a dumb customer he had while working as a cashier at the Reddy Mart.

It's all very polite and pleasant, which makes it completely weird.

When the dishes are cleared we sit down to watch TV.

"Can we watch the news?" Sierra asks, reaching for the remote.

"No way." Hutch interrupts. "The University of Onderon game is on. There's no way in heck I'm missing that."

Nobody argues with him. One of the first things I learned when living with Hutch is that when the U of Onderon is playing, _you do not speak to him._ He's probably their biggest fan. Sure, so what if he screams at the ref at ear-bleeding volume for every call against the players?

Just as we find the channel, one of the U of Onderon players is fouled out.

"Oh, come on. COME ON!" Hutch roars.

The game progresses. Lux, Sierra, and I cheer for the team while Hutch becomes all the more radical, pulling out his cap, his jersey, and his foam finger.

At the end of the fourth quarter, I get the idea to check my chrono.

"Crap." I swear. "It's after curfew. Lux and Sierra, looks like you're spending the-."

"No, no, _no, no, no,_ _ **NO!"**_ Hutch screams.

My head snaps up just in time to see one of the players on the opposing team tuck the ball under his arm and run like his life depends on it. The U of Onderon players launch themselves at him but he gracefully sidesteps all of their tackles.

And makes a touchdown.

The University of Onderon has lost. By three points, in the final minute of the game.

The other team doesn't even get a chance to start their victory song before they're drowned out by Hutch's screaming.

"NO! They cheated! That was a foul! He didn't make it into the end zone!"

I jump up and grab Lux and Sierra. "On second thought, can I stay at your place?"

"But curfew-." Sierra protests.

"Sierra. Look at Hutch's face. Do you want to be under the same roof with him right now?"

Lux looks at his little sister. "When the U of Onderon lost during the rebellion, Hutch yelled so loud for so long, Dono had to slap him."

"Look," I propose. "It's only a few minutes' trip. Who's going to be looking for us?"

"Right." Lux goads.

Sierra sighs, and pushes open the door. "Fine," she whispers when we're out on the street. "It's not like I want to be with Hutch anyway. I don't even like sports."

"Don't say that too loudly." Lux advises. "We don't have Dono around to slap some sense into Hutch."

"Hey, you kids!"

All three of us stop in our tracks.

 _Crap…_

"Play it cool. I think they're just rent-a-cops." I whisper.

"Uh, doesn't look like it." Sierra replies.

Lux fixes his sister with a glare. "You don't happen to have anything I don't know?"

Sierra rolls her eyes at him. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

I resist the extremely strong urge to kill both of them and shut up their bickering. _Force, I have newfound respect for my parents when Steela and I were kids and called each other names fifty times a day._

"Um, is there a problem, officer?" I call out to the cop blocking the sidewalk.

Instead of answering me, the cop peppers us with questions.

Who are we?

What are we doing out after curfew?

We might have gotten off clean, if I didn't have such a huge mouth.

"The real question is, officer." I say. "Why are _you_ out after curfew?"

If Steela was alive right now, she would have kicked me across Iziz for saying that. Even with the circumstances as they are, I wouldn't be surprised if her ghost possessed Lux or Sierra and kicked me that way.

But no possessions have to take place, because the cop turns cherry red.

"Well, Smart Aleck, you'll have plenty of time to answer that question down at the station."

 **LUX**

The cop leads us to an interrogation room. After we sit down on one side of the table, he shoves a datapad toward us.

"I need your names and the phone numbers for your emergency contacts." He says.

"Emergency contacts?" Saw asks.

"Your parents," the cop clarifies. "Or neighbors, whoever."

It takes all my willpower not to say _Whatever you do, don't write down Hutch's number! If they figure out who we are, we're all so dead I don't even want to think about it._

Saw takes the datapad and when he was finished, hands it to Sierra, who passes it to me. I look down at the display.

Saw said he was Shaquille O'Neal.

Sierra identified herself as Taylor Swift.

I kind of hesitate. See, I'm not a creative person.

"You don't know your own name?" the cop says.

"Yeah! Of course I do. It's…George Washington." Then I jot down my parents' old phone number. The cop leaves the room.

"Are you nuts?" Saw demands. "Every guy in the galaxy knows who George Washington is!"

"Yeah, and everybody knows who Shaquille O'Neal and Taylor Swift are, too!"

"Guys! We've got to get out of here." Sierra pipes up. "I just gave him the number for HoloNet Helpline."

"And I gave him the number for Dex's Diner." Saw says.

"And I actually gave him our old phone number." I lament.

"What?" Sierra cries. "Lux, that might still have our old answering machine hooked up to it. If they call it, they could figure out who we are."

"Well sorry for not being the phone expert!"

"Nice going, _George."_ Saw snaps.

"Shut it, _Shaq."_

"Was it like this back at the rebellion?" Sierra hisses. "Did you two fight all the time? Is that why Steela had to do everything?"

I give her a look. "No!"

"You two fight like tookas and dogs!"

"How about we save the sibling bickering for later, and get ourselves OUT OF HERE!" Saw cries.

"Oh, yeah? How do you plan on doing that?" I snap.

Saw points up.

At least ten feet above us hangs a small skylight, about a foot and a half square.

"No. Way." I say. "Saw, we're never going to get up there."

Saw shrugs, and grabs Sierra around the waist. She yelps.

"What are you doing?"

Saw ignores her, and instead boosts her up and onto his shoulders. "Reach up there and see how tightly that thing's in place."

Sierra shakily gets to her feet, precariously balanced on Saw's shoulders. I get up on a chair to hold her waist.

"O-Okay," she says. "It's not hinged, but I don't think it's nailed down."

"Could you knock it out? Like with a tool or something?"

"Probably. But we don't have any-."

"Bonteri, give her the other chair." Saw orders.

I grab the chair the cop was sitting in and pass it up to Sierra. She turns it upside down, and smashes one of the legs at the window.

Suddenly, there's a ruckus in the hallway. Something about "Those brats". Something about "Dex's Diner."

"Guys…"

"I'm working on it!" Sierra cries, slamming the chair into the window again. This time, the glass creaks. One more blow does the trick.

Sierra uses the chair to clear out the remaining glass, passes it down to me, and pulls herself up through the window with a boost from Saw.

Saw goes next. While he's climbing up, I shove the chair under the door. Not a second later, the doorknob starts shaking.

"Hurry, Saw!"

"I'm hurrying!"

I grab his legs, and give them a good hard _push._ Saw disappears onto the roof. Standing on the chair, I reach up for Saw and Sierra to pull me out of the room.

As we take off across the roof, the cop's voice filters out of the window.

 _"You kids better get back here, and I'll show you some 'Dex's Diner'!"_

 **(A/N. About Hero: I own her in the way ItsATrap101 owns his character Cello. Hero is the rebel who yells "Look!" at the end of Tipping Points, the one wearing a hat with ear flaps. She is named after the character in "Much Ado About Nothing".**

 **About the cop who arrests Lux, Saw, and Sierra, just picture Kevin James in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and you've got him.**

 **A big thank you goes out to Lost Lauren, StarwarsRulz, and starwarshobbitfics for their reviews. Three reviews! That's a record for a single chapter. I'm glad you're all enjoying this story. And just as big a thank you goes to all my readers, for checking this out. Thank you all very much.**

 **How did you like this chapter? Please drop a review, they are always appreciated. Flames, however, are only good for lighting Tiki Torches.)**


	4. Two Broke Rebels

**CHAPTER THREE- TWO BROKE REBELS**

 **SAW**

I spent the night on Lux and Sierra's couch, ignoring all the screaming phone calls from Hutch about the University of Onderon losing.

After the third one, I'm so done with him I pick up.

"Hutch, I just escaped from jail." I snap. _"I do not care."_

 _"Wait, what? Are you at Bonteri's?"_

I snorted and hung up on him. But, Hutch lives with me. He knows me well enough to understand that when I don't answer, it usually means "Yes."

There's a knock on the door around seven, while I get ready for work, Lux for a day of job hunting, and Sierra innocently does the dishes in the sink. A little too innocently, I might add.

Sierra dries her hands. "Lux, are you expecting somebody?" she asks.

"Uh, no. Are you?" Lux replies, sharing a look of momentary panic with his sister.

"Guys, it's not the cops." I say. "I just talked to Hutch. It's probably him."

Lux checks the peephole, nods and opens the door. "Hey, guys."

Hutch and Hero file in, smiling.

"Hey, Lux." Hero chimes in. "Listen, I can't be too long, my shift starts at eight."

Hero, as well as being a former rebel, is a waitress. Her boss isn't the galaxy's greatest believer in second chances.

Hutch shrugs. "Mine's at nine, but I'm driving her."

I hold a hand up to my roommate. "Hutch, sorry about snapping at you on the phone, but-."

"You were arrested!" Hero interjects. "How? What did you do?"

"We were on the streets after curfew." Sierra answers. "We thought we'd be okay because it was only from Saw's to here, but there was a patrol. _Luckily,_ it was the dumbest cop alive."

"How so?" Hero asks.

"He actually believed Lux when he said his name was George Washington."

Lux shoots her a dirty look. "It's not right, guys. The curfew now is even earlier than it was during the occupation."

"And there was…the thing." Hero trails off.

"I'm done with this." I snap. "We've got to do _something._ We were rebels, for crying out loud."

"You forgot one thing: we don't have money." Hutch replies. "I am a _cashier,_ working _minimum wage_ at the Reddy Mart. Hero is a _waitress._ You're in the militia."

I look to Lux.

"Saw, I'm broke." Lux says. "Sierra and I don't have any money left over from our parents."

"We could put it on somebody's credit card." Hutch muses.

"And how do you plan on getting this?" Sierra asks. "It's not like people are just going to hand us their credit cards."

An idea forms in my mind. "You'd be surprised who people will give their cards to."

"Like who?" Hutch asks.

I point at Hero. "Like you."

"Me?" Hero asks, pointing at herself.

"You're a waitress. People let waitresses walk off with their cards all the time."

"Yeah," she says. "But where I work, the bill comes in a little holder and they put their card in with it. I can't open the folder unless I'm at the register."

"Okay, then just copy down the numbers while you're at the register."

Hero crosses her arms. "That won't work. My boss is everywhere, especially at the register. And also, I have regular customers who know me by name, and the server's name is printed on the bill. It's a good thought, Saw, but the reality is I'd get caught."

Lux drums his fingers. "Wait a minute. It could still work. We just need a different server."

"Like who?" Hutch asks.

"You're going to hate it, Hutch…"

Lux is right. Hutch and Sierra hate it.

 **SIERRA**

I make up a haiku as I write down orders for people I hate.

 _I really hate this._

 _This was your idea, Lux._

 _You're gonna die, bro._

It's the worst haiku ever written, but I do not care a twig.

I plaster my fake smile on and carry the bill over to one of my tables. "How was everything today?" I chirp.

"Excellent, thank you." The customer replies.

"Great! I'll take this whenever you're ready," I reply, leaving the bill on the table and walking away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the customer stick a credit card into the folder. After refilling another table's drinks, I pop back in and grab the check.

"Okay, Lux." I mumble under my breath while at the register. "We've got a GalactiCard here." I've just finished scribbling down the card number when someone clears his throat.

"Excuse me, Miss. There's a mistake on my bill."

I shove the credit card information behind the register and look up. "What seems to be the…problem, sir?"

 _Oh, just my luck._

Standing in front of me is the cop from the police station.

He gives me a look. "Do I know you?"

"I've worked a lot of other places. Maybe I'd seen you there," I reply smoothly. "Now, about your bill?"

The cop pulls the small paper back.

"No, I remember now," he says. "Guess I was lucky I came here for lunch, _Taylor Swift!"_

And before I can run or refute the accusation, he pulls out his blaster and stuns me, right in the chest.

… **..**

"What do you mean, Dendup has Sierra?" Lux yells.

Hutch takes a step back. "It wasn't my fault, dude! That cop who arrested you guys showed up and recognized her."

"Well, why didn't you do something?" Lux bleats.

"I don't know, Lux." Hutch says sarcastically. "Maybe because I couldn't without revealing myself."

"You let the cops drag a 13-year-old girl whose last name is 'Bonteri' off to jail?"

Hutch raises his hands. "Lux, chill. As far as the cop knows, Sierra's name is Taylor Swift."

"They're never going to believe that, dipstick!"

Meanwhile at Dendup's prison, the clerk gave a still-unconscious Sierra and the cop a raised eyebrow.

"Her name is Taylor Swift?"

The cop nods. "Yes, yes it is."

"Isn't Taylor Swift a singer or something?"

"Look, will you just write up the papers?" the cop demands.

The clerk rolls her eyes. _No, just ignore the clerk when the prisoner's given you an obviously fake name,_ she thinks. _The clerk_ _never_ _knows what she's talking about._

"All right," she mutters. "Send her to level 15, cell one."

The cop blinks. "Isn't that restricted?"

The clerk gives Sierra the up-and-down. _She's not bad looking, obviously is smart enough to escape the station and give fake names, could pick up waitress skills as if she was a natural, and was in the company of two handsome young men. Yep, I think she meets our criteria._

"Yes, it is. But the records say the prisoner down there needs a new cellmate."

 **(Another disclaimer: I am in** _ **no way**_ **condoning credit card theft. It just seems like a plausible way for our rebels to get money.**

 **Thank you StarwarsRulz and Kasai1214 for your reviews. You guys make me so happy! Internet cookies for both of you (::) (::).**

 **Does anyone have any theories on what will happen to Sierra? Who is her cellmate? Will it ever get through the cop's cranium that "Taylor Swift" is a fake name? If you have an idea, please drop a review. I love hearing people's theories about my stories.**

 **That being said, reviews and constructive criticism are wonderful! Flames, however, are only good for baking cookies.**

 **I'll see all of you later, guys!)**


	5. Tesla Coils Light Up The Darkness

**CHAPTER FOUR- TESLA COILS LIGHT UP THE DARKNESS**

 **SIERRA**

When I open my eyes, the world is pitch black. Really, the only way I can tell that I've woken up is that my head is resting in someone's arms.

"Are you awake?" A young woman asks.

I blink a few times. "I can't see."

"It's pitch black in here, kid. Nobody can see." She pushes me into a sitting position. "What's your name? And don't tell me it's Taylor Swift." Did I detect a little mirth in that last part?

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Sierra Bonteri. And you?"

"You know Lux Bonteri?"

"That'd be my idiot brother." I reply.

The girl pushes away. "I didn't know he had a sister."

"Yeah, he doesn't talk about me a whole lot. And you are?"

She sticks her hand out, accidentally jabbing me in the side.

"Tesla."

"Like a Tesla coil?"

"Yeah," Tesla responds. "And I don't wanna hear any wisecracks. Mind telling me your full name and traumatic backstory?"

"Exactly why am I doing that? I already told you my full name, and I don't even have a traumatic backstory."

"Listen, do you really wanna get on my bad side, considering I might be your last friend?"

"If my last friend is a spy, that would honestly suck."

"Do me a favor? Humor me."

"Fine. My full name is Sierra Bonteri."

"You have a middle name. Or probably, many middle names." Tesla scoffs.

"For your information, it's Ann." I snap.

"Traumatic backstory." Tesla orders.

"My parents died, and now I live with my brother." I offer.

"Keep going," Tesla demands.

"Um…he isn't super intelligent?"

"Right," Tesla mutters under her breath. "And next you've been abused as a child, and used like a slave, and-."

You know that saying about your mother? You can complain about your own mom all you want, but Force help the person who insults her. That applies here.

"Hey! That's my family! They would _never_ do something like that to Lux or me!" I shout. "Why would you even say something like that?"

Tesla sighs. "Listen, I just need to think right now."

"Whatever. But if I'm getting the third degree, you are too."

"If that's what it takes, then all right. My name is Tesla. My parents are dead too, but to the best of my knowledge my brother's still alive. I've been here for since right after the rebellion…how long ago was that?"

"The rebellion? That was," I do the math. "Five months, give or take a few days."

 _"What?_ I thought it was a year, at least."

"Right. And King Dendup is on the throne, though I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing, considering where we are."

"Right. How'd you get in here?"

"I broke out of jail. How are you in here?"

Tesla doesn't answer for a few minutes.

"I can't tell you," she says. "Because I don't really know."

 **LUX**

"Okay," Saw says as we sit at one of the tables in Hero's section. "Luckily, I came up with a contingency plan, in case something like this happened. Because I work in the militia, I have access to the arrest database."

"So?"

"So, all I have to do is turn it on, and we'll have Sierra's exact location."

 _"Then why haven't you done it already?"_ I shriek.

"Lux," Hero says. "You're going psycho. Get a grip."

Saw rolls his eyes, and pulls out his cell phone. "Okay. Hero, can I have a water, please? Let me pull this up."

A few keystrokes and Hero's return later, Saw speaks up.

"There's no Sierra Bonteri in the system."

"Try Taylor Swift." Hutch suggests.

Saw types that in. "Well, that worked. Taylor Swift is being held under the palace, on…level fifteen? What did she do, try to murder the king?" He zeroes in on his phone screen. "She's got a cellmate, but she's only listed as Jane Doe."

"So it's another girl?" I ask.

"Yeah. Hutch and Hero? Plan your escapes. We'll call you when we need you. Lux, come with me. I think it's high time Sierra and Jane Doe get to see some sunlight."

 **SIERRA**

"Sierra?" Tesla asks. "I've heard the guards talking. They say the girl who led the rebels, Steela Gerrera, died. Is it true…did the Jedi kill her?"

I blink. "Ahsoka? Kill Steela? No, no, a thousand times no! They were friends."

"Then what happened?"

"Well, I wasn't there. But my brother was, and he says that Steela and King Dendup were standing on the cliff ledge when a gunship crashed into it. It crumbled, and then there's a little disagreement over what happened next-."

"And that is?"

 _Will you quit interrupting me, Tesla?_

"The official story is Steela pushed the King to safety. But some sources say that the King pushed himself off the cliff at Steela's expense."

"Anyway…"

 _"Anyway,_ King Dendup was on solid ground, but Steela slid down the cliff until she finally got a handhold. My brother, Lux, tried to rescue her himself but he couldn't reach her. He started to fall, but Ahsoka caught him with the force.

"Once he was safe, she picked up Steela and started to get her on solid ground, too. Little did she know, the gunship behind her was still operational. The gun aimed, and it shot her in the shoulder."

I rest my head on my knees. "Her focus was broken. She dropped Steela. End of story."

Tesla's quiet for a while, then speaks up. "So, she didn't mean to drop her?"

"It was a freak accident. Lux says she cried for hours the night after it happened." Not that Tesla can see it, but I raise an eyebrow. "Why does it matter, anyway?"

Tesla huffs. "I just need to be alone right now. I'm going to sleep. Good night, Sierra."

"Good night, Tesla."

….

 _Lux swims in the stolen uniform, but it's good enough for him to pass as a guard. Saw's identification doesn't hurt, either._

 _They duck down the emergency stairwell and run down to level 15, flashing Saw's badge at anybody who asks. The few guards who inquire further meet the business end of Lux's Taser._

" _Didn't your dad work in a prison or something?" Saw demands as he tries to get the cell door to open._

 _"Yes," Lux puffs. "But I never went to work with him. I always went to the Senate building with Mom."_

 _"Well," Saw says sarcastically. "I bet you're real happy you did that."_

 _"Shut up, Saw!"_

…

When I was eight, Mom forced Dad to honor Take-Your-Children-To-Work Day. She took Lux with her to the Parliament, and I went with Dad to the palace, where he worked in the cells. Due to the nature of Dad's employment, I stayed either in his office or in the break room with his coworkers. But still, I remember the general sounds of prison.

Yelling and running are not two of them.

I feel around in the dark for Tesla's shoulder, and shake it hard. "Tesla. Tesla! Wake up! I think somebody's coming."

"What?" Tesla whispers. "Why would somebody be coming for us? You said your brother didn't see you taken, and nobody knows I'm here!"

"Why don't they? Somebody misses you."

"Sierra, I haven't been totally honest with you-."

 _"Saw, I found it!"_ Lux's voice filters through the door.

"Tesla! It's Lux and Saw!" I cheer.

"Sierra! This is important!" Tesla snaps, voice completely devoid of joy. "My name isn't Tesla!"

I turn toward the general direction of her voice. "Wha-what?"

"I'm sorry I lied to you. Lux never talked about you during the rebellion so we couldn't tell the Separatists about you if we were captured. I didn't even know he had a sister. I thought Dendup was playing mind games with me again, so I didn't-."

….

 _"Have you almost got the lock open?" Lux snaps._

 _"These things take time, Bonteri!"_

… _.._

I stand up and step away from Tesla. "Who are you?"

"I didn't know if I could trust you."

"Quit talking in circles and tell me who you are!"

…

 _"There! I finally got it." Saw grumbles, and pulls open the door._

… _._

Light floods the cell which had never seen a candle, a torch, or a lightbulb.

Unused to light after a day here with not-Tesla, I'm blinded. Through my squinting eyes, all I can make out are three figures: Lux, Saw, and a tall, thin girl next to me.

What was I expecting? Something along the lines of _Hi, Sierra! We're here to rescue you. Glad to see you're not dead!_

But this is what I get.

Once the boys get the door open, they jump back as if they've seen a ghost. Saw tries to scream, but all that comes out is a strangled choking sound.

"Oh, no. Oh, this is not possible." Lux repeats over and over.

"Saw?" Tesla asks tenderly.

"T-this isn't possible. It's a trick!" Saw bleats, pointing at Tesla.

I force my eyes open all the way, still tearing up from the influx of light.

Lux's jaw is on the floor, staring next to me. Saw stands next to him, shaking and looking as if he's seen a ghost.

"It's not a trick, Saw." Tesla says, and in that moment I _know._ I just _know,_ even though I've never met her, without having to look at her. "As much as it might look like it, it's not. I swear."

"How?" Lux asks. "I _saw_ you die!"

"No," she replies. "You saw me fall. I wouldn't give Dendup the pleasure of making you watch me die."

And out into the hallway, steps Steela Gerrera.

 **(A/N: now, before anybody hits that review button, I'm just going to put this out there: if the Star Wars universe is able to save the lives of Darth Vader, General Grievous, and Maul, then I think they could probably do something for Steela if they really wanted to. If not, well, for nothing is impossible with fanfiction.**

 **I did plant some clues in the story, which are as follows.**

" **Tesla" is a quasi-anagram of Steela's name. (It's missing an E)**

" _ **Listen, I just need to be alone."**_ **Is similar to Steela's line in "The Soft War":** _ **"Listen, I need to be alone right now."**_

 **She mentions a surviving brother.**

 **She does not know the details of what happened on the cliff, when it appears to be public knowledge in the episode.**

 **Thank you again to starwarshobbitfics, Kasai1214, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. And StarwarsRulz, for guessing the cellmate correctly- I honestly did not think that was going to happen- you get another cookie (::)**

 **In the next chapter: the craziness begins, for obvious reasons.**

 **I'll see you all later, guys!**


	6. T'was But A Scratch!

**CHAPTER FIVE- 'TWAS BUT A SCRATCH!**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars. I do own Sierra, Hero, and Velvet. (more about her later).

This is where the story gets pretty farcical, so hold onto your hats, folks.

 **LUX**

Predictably, Steela's the one who drags us out of the prison.

Saw's too busy babbling incoherently, Sierra's jaw hasn't moved from its O shape…and I'm running my mouth.

"How the heck did you survive that? Nobody could have?" I demand.

Steela tugs Saw and Sierra down a corner, when she suddenly doubles over. "Man, am I out of shape!" she wheezes.

I lift my comlink to my lips. "Hutch, Hero, we need a quick exit."

 _"Do you have Sierra?"_ Hero asks.

"Yes, and someone else."

 _"Who?"_

"You're not going to believe me if I say, Hero."

…

Hero screamed like a little girl when Steela walked out with us, huffing and puffing. Since neither she nor Hutch was in shape to drive, Saw got behind the wheel.

Something to remember: Saw is a really, really bad driver. Hutch thinks he only got his license because the instructor didn't want to sit through another attempt.

A few minutes of total silence went by, when Steela broached a very good point.

"So, where are we going?"

I blinked.

"Well, we can't go to my house. They'll look for you there." Saw said.

"We can't go to mine, either. They'll be looking for me!" Sierra pipes up.

"My house is open." Hero deadpans. "While we drive, how about Steela fills us in on how she's still alive?"

"It didn't come free, Hero. They had to operate on my spine, and I think I probably have some new vertebrae in there. I spent a long time in a bacta tank and even longer in a coma." She bites her lip. "Whoever saw what happened on the cliff was right. Dendup pushed me. I was in a coma when you and Saw found me. But when they took me away, I was flown straight into surgery…at least, that's what they say."

"If Dendup pushed you, then why did they go to all the trouble of saving your life?" I ask.

Steela shakes her head as we turn another corner. "There's something going on. Dendup called it the Lazarus Project."

"SAW! The speed limit is 35! You're going 60!" Sierra shrieks.

Lazarus. The name rings a bell. I remember paintings from a Senator's home, of a man walking out of a burial tomb.

"They wanted to keep me there until…something…happens. Then, they were going to pull me out and use me to get the people on their side. I would be their own personal pawn. A Lazarus."

Saw scoffs, reducing his speed by about one mile per hour. "You? A pawn? Hard to believe."

"It wouldn't have been the same me, Saw. They've been playing mind games with me ever since I woke up. First off, they showed me a hologram of Ahsoka dropping me and in the holo, she does it on purpose in retribution for kissing Lux."

My cheeks turn red. Steela's flush in kind. "I'm so sorry, Lux. I just had a feeling something bad was going to happen that day, it was just a crazy, spur of the moment thing. And Saw, seriously, slow down. We're gonna get pulled over."

"Hey, it's all good," I reply. "Like you said, it was just in case."

Steela doesn't even seem to hear me. "When that didn't work, they turned out the lights in the cell. I still didn't do anything, and that's when they brought out their weapons to turn me into what they wanted." She shudders. "Cellmates."

Saw pulls up to an intersection, about to make a left-hand turn. Hutch grabs the armrests. "Saw, you don't have clear distance. Wait for that guy to go by."

"We don't have time!" Saw snaps and stomps on the gas. We careen past the oncoming car, whose driver salutes us with one raised finger. It is not the thumb, index, ring, or pinky finger.

After the obligatory yelling at Saw, Steela continues her story. "When they brought the first one in, I was happy to have somebody to talk to, but… _ugh!"_ She shudders. "Her name was Mary Sue, and she was _perfect._ Seriously, I mean perfect. She had beautiful blond hair, and eyes that glowed in the dark. When she sang, it was like an angel had descended from heaven. Everybody, even the guards, thought she was smokin' hot. They would throw themselves at her feet. But she spent forever whining about her tragic backstory, which is like something from a soap opera. And then, it turned out that she's an heiress to a huge fortune, or something. I kind of started tuning it out at that point. She was just. So. Annoyingly. Perfect!"

"You've dealt with annoying people before." Hutch brings up. "But you're a good leader."

"Hutch, you haven't even begun to imagine annoying until you've met Mary Sue. After I tried to throttle the first Mary Sue, they sent in another one. They all just started blending together, and their names were really long and confusing, so I just started calling all of them Mary Sue." Steela rubs her temples. "Oh, Force! There were so many of them. The worst one was this chick named Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way. She spent the whole time calling me a 'prep' and obsessing over Hot Topic. But don't worry, they eventually got sick of her and sent her somewhere called 'Hogwarts'…Saw, isn't Hero's house right from here?"

Saw turns right. He sort of misses the actual street. Fortunately, the people who live on that corner don't have anything in their front yard.

"Do you hate the traffic laws? Is that it? Do you just hate the traffic laws?" I demand.

"I can't drive with people complaining, Bonteri." Saw snaps.

 _"You can't drive at all!"_ Hero yells.

"Get out of the driver's seat. Let me drive!" Hutch snaps.

"No way!"

"Wait," Sierra interrupts. "You thought I was a Mary Sue?"

Steela pats her shoulder. "Sorry, Sierra. But you're related to Lux, and that already means you're treading in dangerous territory."

"Just because I'm related to Lux?"

Steela rolls her eyes. "You're not the first sibling. A Mary Sue or two said she was Lux's sister as well. One of them claimed to be Ahsoka's sister. But the worst one…I remember her. Her name was Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera."

"Velvet Sparkles Kitty…what?" Hutch asks.

"Hold it, did you just say _Gerrera?"_ Hero interrupts.

"She said she was _my_ long-lost twin sister." Steela says. "I broke down sobbing. I kid you not, guys. I cried like a baby for so long, they sent a nurse in because they thought something was wrong with me."

"Don't worry," Hero soothes. "You probably won't see her ever again…Saw? Saw, my apartment building is on the right, with the purple garden."

Saw jerks the wheel to the right.

"Turn signal. TURN SIGNAL!" I scream.

Saw swats back indiscriminately, and smacks me in the face. My nose flares with pain.

"Ow!" I bawl, touching my nose to examine it for damage.

"It couldn't look any worse if I broke it." Saw mumbles, parking in Hero's parking spot.

Hero snorts. "Wait for me to get my house open. When I do, Steela, run like your life depends on it. Because it does." 

**(A/N. I know the whole Mary Sue bashing thing has been done, but I couldn't help myself. It opens up a world of story possibilities for me. With that in mind, I'd like everyone to know that I'm** _ **not**_ **bashing any particular character (except for Ebony. Who, by the way, belongs to the person who wrote "My Immortal" and not me). I am simply making fun of the concept of Mary Sue at large. And I'm not perfect. As I said before, this whole Mary Sue thing is also a device for me to make fun of Sierra's Sueish-ness.**

 **Also, thank you to Kasai1214 and Starwarshobbitfics for your reviews! I guess I threw you guys for a loop last chapter. And another thank you to serivcepeople everywhere, in honor of Memorial Day. It's a bit early where I live, but better early than never**

 **So, what did everyone think? Does Steela's story make sense, or have I crossed the line? Please drop a review, and constructive criticism is appreciated. Flames, on the other hand, are only good for Memorial Day barbecues.)**


	7. The Untimely Demise of Hero's Food

**CHAPTER SIX- THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OF HERO'S FOOD**

 **SIERRA**

You wouldn't believe how quickly the novelty of having Steela back wore off for Saw.

One of the first things Steela did when we settled in to Hero's place was take a shower. Pretty soon, steam was rolling under the door.

When the shower time exceeds fifteen minutes, Saw knocks on the door.

"Sis, you're using all the hot water!" he snaps. "Quit hogging the refresher."

 _"I'm not using all the hot water."_

"Yeah, you are!"

The shower shuts off for a second, there's a padding of feet, and a towel-clad Steela throws the door open. And she's not happy.

She uses one hand to keep her towel in place, and the other to grab the front of Saw's shirt.

"This is my first shower in five months. I. Will take. As long as I want." She says, and steps back into the refresher.

When she finally emerges, I duck into the shower before Saw. Predictably, it's freezing cold.

Saw finally gets into the shower after Hutch. He emerges shivering from the cold water.

"I can't wait to just hop into bed." He grumbles under his breath.

"You wish," Hero mutters.

"What do ya mean, I wish?"

"Listen, pal." Hero says. "I don't live in a mansion. You, Hutch, and Lux are sleeping in the living room."

"But there are more of you, and the living room has the couch and a chair. Why do you get the bedroom?"

"For one, it's my house. And two, Steela's already asleep." To prove it, she nudges the door open. Steela lies on the bed, sound asleep.

"Look, guys. I'm tired." I say. "And waking Steela right now should be a felony."

Saw opens his mouth as if so say something, but shrugs and replies "Fair enough." But before leaving he carefully removes Steela's boots, then tenderly kisses her forehead.

"Good night, sis." He whispers with a gentleness I didn't think could come from Saw. His whole face is lit up with pure joy.

Hero loans me one of her T-shirts and chucks me a pillow for the floor. She takes up the other side of the bed, next to Steela.

I've just closed my eyes when the voices filter from the living room.

 _"Shove over, Hutch."_

 _"Nuh-uh, I'm not sleeping on the floor. Make Bonteri sleep on the floor."_

 _"I'm staying on this couch whether you like it or not."_

 _"Hutch, help me jettison him."_

 _"Eat pillow, Saw!"_

Hero rolls out of bed and sticks her head out the door.

"Quit fighting and go to sleep, or else you're all sleeping on my freakin' porch!"

Silence falls.

 **SAW**

In the morning, I'm hungry.

"We shouldn't wake up Hero." Lux says. "She won't mind if we watch TV until she wakes up."

Hutch shrugs, and switches on the TV.

 _"Now after you've added the eggs,"_ Cooking Show Lady says, _"Make sure all the ingredients are evenly mixed."_

The fact that the camera's doing a close-up of something that looks delicious isn't helping.

"I have an idea!" I propose. "How about we make Hero breakfast. As a thank-you?"

"Should we be using her kitchen?" Lux frets.

"Anything is better than watching Food TV." Hutch mutters.

I walk into the kitchen and start raiding the pantry. Frozen waffles are popping out of the toaster, eggs sizzle on the stove, and Hutch settles himself with a huge bowl of cereal. All in all, we've probably cleared out half of Hero's fridge.

The three of us sit down to our sumptuous breakfast when Hero walks in.

"Uh…hi, Hero?" Hutch squeaks.

Hero's luckily still half-asleep. She ambles over to her fridge, then stops cold. Very slowly, she turns to face us.

"Where's. My. Food?" she demands.

"Uh…" Hutch repeats, glancing at his dirty plate.

"You ate it all?" Hero grabs the milk carton, and peeks inside. "You drank all my milk? I had almost half a carton!"

"Oh, boo-hoo." Sierra scoffs. "Lux once ate all the Life Day cookies."

"Look Hero, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? I can't afford to go through half a fridge of food every meal." Hero says indignantly.

"I know," I reply. "I'll reimburse you, just _chill."_

Hero, still sulking, grabs a cup of coffee and plops down in a chair.

And at the worst possible time, I release a loud, impolite belch.

"Saw!" Steela snaps.

"Sorry," I mutter and go back to my eggs.

For a few minutes, everything is semi-normal. Steela's giving me that annoyed look. Hero mopes in her chair, mourning her lost food. Lux and Sierra are arguing over whether the name brand is the same thing as the store brand. Hutch is reading the paper, muttering "politicians" every so often. It's so bizarrely normal that when the doorbell rings, Hero gets up to answer it without a second's hesitation.

"Can I help you?" she asks.

"Yes!" A melodious, musical voice chirps. "I want to see my long-lost sister and brother!"

The scream that erupts from Steela is barely human.

"Go away, Sue!" She screeches, grabbing a butcher knife and pointing it at the door.

"My name is not Sue!" the girl giggles. "My name is Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera, and I'm your and Saw's long-lost sister!"

 **STEELA**

Hero looks back at Steela. "Isn't this the girl from the prison?"

"Shut the dumb door, Hero!" I scream, waving the butcher knife.

Hero slams the door shut, cutting off the Mary Sue. Saw rushes to my side, grabbing me around the shoulders.

"Chill out, Steela." He says, carefully grabbing the knife and setting it on the counter. "What's wrong? Is it something that happened back at the palace?"

I point to the door. "That-that _thing_ out there is one of the Mary Sues from back in the cell. The one who's supposed to be my long-lost twin."

A voice comes from the door. To my horror, the Mary Sue has poked open Hero's mail slot to speak through it.

"Sissy? Bubby? Is that you?" she happy-cries. "Please come out, I just want to meet you!"

"My God, isn't this stalking?" Hero asks.

"Not for a Mary Sue. They're above the law."

I have led a rebellion. I have fallen off a cliff and survived. I have made it through Dendup's Lazarus Project. But I have no idea, _none whatsoever,_ how to deal with a Mary Sue.

Okay. Think, Steela. Think. As painful as it may be, could you remember how you dealt with the other Mary Sues?

Well, they didn't like to hear about each other. Maybe Mary Sues have some territory thing?

I point at Sierra. "Sierra, put on some lipstick, comb your hair, and get out there!"

"Wait, what?" Sierra asks, setting her spoon back in her cereal bowl.

"If you go out there, maybe you can scare her off. Show her that you're the Mary Sue here?"

"But I don't want to be a Mary Sue," Sierra whines.

"Shut up," Lux grumbles. I don't have the heart to tell him that Sierra's walking the tightrope.

Hero ducks into her refresher and emerges with her makeup bag. Very carefully, she applies some lip gloss and eyeliner to Sierra's face.

"Does she look convincing?" Hero asks me.

I nod. "Good enough. Remember three things, Sierra. You're a super nice person, you're totally awesome as to redefine the word, and you've got a traumatic backstory."

Sierra swallows hard, and steps out the door. I rush up to the mail slot and try to listen through.

"Sissy?" Velvet asks. "Wait…who are you?"

"Um…my name is Sierra Bonteri. I'm Lux's little sister." Sierra says.

Velvet gasps. "Lux Bonteri's sister?"

"Yeah!" Sierra chirps. "He's my brother. Do you know him?"

"Oh, my goodness." Velvet says. "He's adorable. But he stole my sister away during the rebellion."

"…Wasn't he teaching her to throw a droid popper or something?" Sierra brings up.

"Oh, Sierra." Velvet croons. "You just don't get it. You don't understand how hard it is to be beautiful, and loved by everyone. When a boy hogs a girl all to himself, and stays away with her like Lux did with Steela, then he's keeping himself away from the girls like us! It's so, so not nice."

"Hey, that's my brother!" Sierra snaps.

I squeeze my eyes shut. "No, Sierra, Mary Sues don't do that! They just agree with the first Mary Sue!" I hiss to myself.

"If you're such a nice person," Sierra continues, "Then why don't you leave Saw and Steela alone? They're happy right now."

 _"Because,"_ Velvet wails. _"They're my siblings! Hug me!"_

Sierra flies back into Hero's house, nearly clubbing me in the face with the door

"Please don't make me do that." She begs.

"You said it, sister." I mumble.

Okay, now that Plan A has fallen through, what else can you throw at a Mary Sue?

 _"Ebony, could you please stop obsessing over how hot you are?" I'd asked one time, trying to be civil._

 _"Excuse me, you prep?" Ebony (or maybe it was Enoby) snapped. "You don't matter, because you're a prep!"_

 _"You realize you used the same adjective twice in your argument?" I snapped back._

 _I couldn't see Ebony in the darkness, but there was a sound…the sound of silence, for a minute._

 _I had wounded Ebony._

"Reality," I whisper.

"What?" Lux asks, and then it hits him. "Wait. Her entire being is so illogical, that we can destroy her with reality?"

"Yeah. I'm going to need Saw's help." I say, nodding to my brother.

"Anything to stop this craziness." Saw grumbles.

…

Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera is even worse in daylight.

She has long, flowing hair that shone in the sun, undulating down her back. It seemed to swish on its own accord, and it changed from black, to deep amethyst violet, to sapphire blue, to flaming red.

And her eyes, they were enormous emeralds. Creepy in its own right. What made them even freakier was the fact they look a little like mine.

Velvet jumps up and throws her arms around the both of us. "Sissy! Bubby!" she shrieks.

Saw disengages, and pushes me behind him. "Yeah. I'm Saw, and this is-."

"Oh, I already know who you are!" Velvet sings in a voice that sounds horrifically like a flute. "I've known who you are ever since I was a baby!"

"But you're supposed to be our long-lost sister?" I ask.

"Of course!" Velvet Sparkles says. "See, when Steely and I were born-."

 _"Steely?"_ I echo.

Velvet ignores me and keeps prattling on. "When Steely and I were born, our parents could only afford one baby. So they kept Steely and left me at an orphanage with a note telling me they loved me!"

"Let's see that note," I say, holding out my hand. Velvet Sparkles pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to me.

"Well, it was so awful there." She says. "We, like, had to do all the chores and all the other girls hated me because I was better than them at everything. But, it isn't my fault that I'm awesome!"

Saw gags.

"I know, my past is so disgusting!" Velvet Sparkles says, reaching over to touch him on the arm.

Saw shoves her away. "That's not what I meant."

I open the note and skim over it.

"Hey, Velvet Sparkles? Mind telling me something?" I ask.

"Anything, Sissy!" She flashes an absolutely blinding smile.

"Yeah. Where were we born?"

The smile fades for a millisecond, then reappears.

"The hospital, silly!" she giggles.

Saw gives me a look, and then catches on. "Which hospital?" he counters.

"The one in Iziz…"

"What's our birthday? What were our parents' names? How old was Saw when we were born?"

"Our birthday is the date on the note, June nineteenth." Velvet Sparkles replies. "Saw was three!"

I roll my eyes and close ranks with Saw. "Okay, listen here Mary Sue. First of all, my parents would never refer to you as their 'little Buttercup.'"

"That was just because they loved me so much."

Swallowing vomit, I continue. "Two, my mother's name is misspelled. Her name was Katherine with a K, not Catherine with a C. This doesn't even look like her handwriting."

"Three," Saw interrupts. "The date on the note is wrong. This is the day Steela's birth certificate was filed, not the day she was born."

"Which leads us to fallacy number four." I take over "I was born at home, fifty miles away from the city. We had to wait until my mother recovered, and then we went to the hospital to fill out my birth certificate."

"And since she was born at home, I was there." Saw says smugly. "And I can tell you right now that there was only one baby."

Velvet Sparkles stomps her foot. "You can't do this! I'm a Mary Sue! Everybody has to clear the way for me to get what I want!"

"Well, I don't care."

Suddenly, the door opens, and _Hero_ fills the frame.

"Okay, Velvet Something-I-Don't-Care-About." She snaps. "You're trespassing. Get off my property!"

"What?" Velvet gasps.

"You heard me." Hero roars. "Five people just crashed my house and ate all my food, it was a rough day for tips yesterday, I have to work late tonight, and now _this_ happens. I am done, done, _done_ with this! Get. Out. Of. My. House."

"Holy fierfek." Saw mutters.

Hero wastes absolutely no time with Saw, and instead points to Velvet Sparkles. "Go! And if you come back, I'll get security on your perfect little self before you can blink your gemstone eyes."

Velvet Sparkles breaks down in angry tears. To my horror, she is crying _rainbows._ "Everyone hates me! Just you wait! Anyone who messes with a Mary Sue should stock up on body casts! Especially you, Mean House Lady!" She bawls, and stomps off.

"DON'T COME BACK!" Hero yells, shaking her fist.

 **(A/N: Thank you to Kasai1214, StarwarsRulz, and DragonFan47 for your reviews!**

 **In answer to DragonFan47's question as to whether Steela has a crush on Lux: she does not, they are simply very good friends. In this AU, the kiss in "Tipping Points" happened because she was scared, had a foreboding feeling, and wanted to feel close to somebody, it didn't matter who.**

 **What were your thoughts about this chapter? Was VSKGRSG cringe-worthy enough for the Mary Sue bashing she has been subjected to? It was a scream writing her, I'll tell you that. I got to break about every single rule in the character-building book.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated! Flames, however, are only good for fireworks.)**


	8. Enter General Tandin

**CHAPTER SEVEN: ENTER GENERAL TANDIN**

 **TANDIN**

I'm shaking in my boots.

"You mean to tell me," King Dendup repeats. "That Steela Gerrera has _escaped?"_

I gulp back terror. "Yes, my lord. And her cellmate." I reply, looking down at my boots.

 _I am done for…_

Dendup exhales.

"Find her." He orders. "Bring her back alive. I have to contact other members of the Lazarus Project."

I almost faint with relief. "By your command."

"And Tandin." Dendup continues. "This had better be completed quickly. For your sake."

Something bitter rises in my throat, and it's all I can do not to run out of the room.

 _Find Steela Gerrera. It's not that difficult, Tandin. Only about as hard as finding a snowman on Tatooine! If that girl knows how to do_ one _thing, it's hide. I'm just glad I didn't tell Dendup that I know who the cellmate is. When we have the Gerreras and the Bonteris running the same race, I start to get déjà vu._

I take a deep, cleansing breath, and cling to a crazy hope.

 _Steela Gerrera has something of mine. Let's hope that will help me find her._

…..

I remember when Dendup first brought me to the hospital under the palace.

"You clearly have many questions." He said when the elevator opened. "Ask them."

"My lord, what is this place?"

He stepped out of the elevator. "Tandin, have you read the Bible?"

The Bible is an old religious book from some ancient, long-forgotten race. Many still read it to learn about the lives of one of their most influential figures. I've flipped through the book, but I'm far from an expert.

"A little, sire."

"Are you familiar with the story of Lazarus?"

"I can't say I am, my lord."

Dendup led me down a hallway buzzing with medical droids. "The story goes that a man named Lazarus died. Four days later, their Jesus arrived at his hometown and asked to be taken to the tomb. He opened the tomb and called for Lazarus and the man walked out, resurrected."

"An interesting story, sire." I replied when the pause became a bit awkward.

"Yes, and one that the followers of Jesus greatly honor. And that is why it can be used to our advantage. Tell me, General. How do you think the people would respond if there was a Lazarus in their midst?" I didn't answer. Dendup didn't seem to notice. "How would they react if someone they knew, someone they looked up to, had apparently risen from the dead?"

 _Oh my goodness, where is he going with this?_

Dendup paused at a half-open door. I could hear the sounds of a heart monitor inside.

"Do you know, Tandin?"

"I can't say I do, sire."

"Well, you soon will." And with that, he knocked on the door and pushed it open.

"Miss Gerrera. How are you today?"

Steela Gerrera looked like heck. Her hair was uncombed and tangled from sleep, her skin was pale, eyes dull, and it looked like she'd lost weight, but she was _alive._

"Tandin?" She squeaked, trying to raise herself on arms lined by intravenous drips.

"Steela?" I asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

Steela shook her head. "I don't know, Tandin. I just don't know."

She sounded so pathetic, like a child who'd lost her mother in Malagan Market. I approached her and sat on the edge of her bed, taking her hand and repeating the words I gave to a lost child.

"It's alright. We'll get this figured out."

"Yes," Dendup said, coming to Steela's other side. "Now, child. How are you feeling this morning?"

Steela shot him a glare, eyes bloodshot. "Like you care," she snarled.

Dendup clucked his tongue and rubbed the young woman's shoulder. "Oh I do, darling. Especially considering your condition."

"Condition?" I asked.

Steela shook her head. "It's nothing." She mutters.

"Hardly nothing," Dendup continued. "Miss Gerrera is in renal failure."

"Your kidneys?" I asked Steela once I remember what 'renal failure' means.

Steela took a few huffing breaths. "It-It's all under control, Tandin."

"Don't exert yourself, child." Dendup cooed, rubbing her back. "You're right, it is all under control. But let me do the talking. You just relax."

"No!" She tried to pull away, but she was just too weak.

Dendup smiled and brought her closer.

"As I was saying, Tandin: Miss Gerrera's kidneys have been seriously damaged. She needs a transplant. And according to your medical records, you are a genetic match."

"Don't listen to him!" Steela implored. "Tandin, run! Get out of here and tell the people what's happening."

 _Yes, I need to tell people she's alive. But what good is it if she dies of kidney failure?_

Dendup flagged down a passing medical droid, letting Steela go. "The patient is getting a bit flustered. She needs some more medication."

"Shh," I soothed, grabbing Steela and pulling her into a hug as the droid injected something into her IV. "It's all right. I'll take care of it."

"Don't listen to him." She whispered. "He's not telling you everything."

"Oh, my dear…" I comforted her the only way I could think: by holding her in my arms as if she was my own child. Rocking her back and forth. She continued to speak, but I wasn't listening. I held on to her even after she fell asleep.

"Are you ready, General?" Dendup asked when I finally laid her down.

"Yes, my lord."

This was my master plan: get the kidney to Steela, walk out of the palace like nothing was wrong, and then run to Saw and tell him what I'd seen.

But when I woke up from surgery, I realized that Dendup was six steps ahead of me.

"The transplant was a success." He announced. "Miss Gerrera is resting."

"Good," I said, leaning back in my own hospital bed.

"Oh, and General?" Dendup continued. "You will tell no one of what you've seen here."

I swallowed hard. Dendup's eyes narrowed. "General?"

"I'm sorry sire, it's just the medication." I lied.

"Maybe I should order the dosage reduced, then." He mused. "Need I tell you that if anyone were to learn of Miss Gerrera's continued existence, there is irrefutable proof of your involvement?"

My blood turned to slush as my head raced with an awful question.

Steela probably has received many other organs and tissues. Why would Dendup use _my_ kidney, instead of getting one off the donor list?

The answer is simple: All anyone has to do is look at Steela's kidney to know I was involved in the Lazarus Project.

It was a ploy. A ploy to keep me firmly under control.

And I hate him for it.

…

But as I pace through the hallway, the Force smiles down on me.

A horrifically perfect girl about Steela's age storms through the door.

"You!" She sniffs, pointing at me. "You have to help me."

"Excuse me, but who are you?" I ask, trying not to shrink away at the sight of her color-changing hair and rainbow tears.

"My name is Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera!" She doesn't repeat it when I ask her to. Apparently, she's just too awesome to do that. Instead, she launches into her rant.

"They can't just kick me out! I'm a Mary Sue! Everyone has to bow down and serve me!" She pouts for one second, then decides she doesn't look pretty and blinks eyes the color of flawless emeralds (I shudder) at me.

"You're a militiaman." She orders. "You have to arrest my brother and sister. Steela and Saw Gerrera."

Now, let's get one thing clear: I can't stand Mary Sues. I was actually the one who ordered that Velvet Sparkles be sent away because she was so awful. But, if you are careful, you can twist a Mary Sue to serve your own purposes.

"Yes, Velvet Sparkles, I would be happy to help you…"

 **SAW**

Hero emerges from her bedroom, wearing her uniform.

"All right," she says. "I'm heading out. There's food in the fridge, try not to eat all of it. Pull the curtains, watch TV, and try to make it look like nobody's home. I get off work at four. Oh, and Lux? Give me your house keys."

Lux's fingers tense around his keys. "Why do you need them?"

"Because," Hero replies. "You need clothes, toothbrushes, shampoo, all that stuff. And you can't leave here, not with Dendup looking for you. So I'm going to get them for you."

Lux shrugs and tosses her his keys. "You sure nobody's going to notice?"

"Trust me." She points to all of us. "If I see one blaster mark in this joint, you're going up the river. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Sierra says meekly.

Hero breaks out a show-stopping smile that's probably used to garner tips. "Great. See you all at four!" she says, and goes out the door.

"Holy crap." I announce when she's gone.

"What a girl." Hutch says dreamily.

"What should we do?" Lux muses. "Want to play cards?"

"I actually have an idea." Sierra says. "Steela. Can you tell us anything else about the Lazarus Project? Does anyone else know what's going on?"

Steela nods. "I listened whenever I could. There's at least one other Lazarus."

"Who is it?" Lux asks.

"I don't know. All I know is they brought in someone who messed up the project." Steela replies. "He was trying to make the Lazarus hate the Jedi, but it all blew up. Apparently, he gave the Lazarus a sick Jedi as a prisoner, and the Lazarus took pity on her. And there was something about "wife," and "Senate" and that part of the project was probably going to heck unless they did some serious damage control."

I can see out of the corner of my eye that both Lux and Sierra have become incredibly closed-mouthed. I raise an eyebrow. "Lux and Sierra?"

"It's nothing." Lux replies.

"Spill the beans." Steela orders.

"What beans? You know everything about me." Sierra says sardonically.

"Spill 'em." I shoot back.

Lux rolls his eyes. "It sounds like Tandin."

I call _complete_ bull, but Steela sighs. "Well, I can confirm that Tandin knows."

I almost fall out of my chair. "Tandin _what?"_

Steela looks down "Tandin knows what's going on. Dendup brought him down when I was still in the hospital."

"What? Why didn't he tell me?" I demand. "I see him every day at work. We talk about everything."

"He's been blackmailed." Steela replies. "Dendup brought Tandin down to donate a kidney. All anyone has to do is crack me open to prove that Tandin's been involved in a major crime."

"Hold on," Hutch says. "If Tandin knows you're still alive, and he's being blackmailed, it is possible that he'd come looking for us? And he might know where you are?"

The shock on Steela's face is a good enough answer.

"Why would Tandin come here?" Lux asks. "He only knows Hero to wave at."

"You know, I'm not sure all of you realize what danger we've put Hero in." Hutch snaps. "She was the witness. If we get caught, she's deader than any of us."

And then, there's a knock on the door.

Everyone freezes.

"Hide!" Steela hisses, and dives behind the couch.

Hutch goes for the broom closet.

Sierra squeezes herself into the cupboard below the kitchen sink.

Lux covers himself up with Hero's laundry.

I join Steela behind the couch as someone forces the door.

"Hello?" Tandin calls out. The sound of his footfalls resonate through the apartment, getting closer and closer.

"You know, Saw," Tandin says, ever closer. "When you're escaping, it's best to follow all traffic laws. Did you know that each of the red lights you ran was equipped with a camera? All we had to do was follow the path."

Steela looks at me and mimes slitting her throat.

"Also," Tandin continues, "Everyone knows to check behind the couch."

And with that, a hand tattooed with a lyre reaches down and grabs Steela's arm.

"Let go!" She yells, pulling away. I jump up to pop Tandin in the face, but he steps away, still holding my sister.

"Cut it out, Steela." He orders. "I rocked you to sleep. The least you can do is hold still so I don't damage my _one remaining kidney."_

"That was your choice, General." I snarl, grabbing Steela's other arm. "Not hers."

"My choice? Please. If I'd refused, Dendup would have taken it anyway." Tandin scoffs, and releases Steela. "Contrary to your belief, I'm not here to turn you over to Dendup. I'm here to help you."

"Why should I believe you?" Steela demands.

Tandin takes a deep breath. "I have several reasons, Miss Gerrera. For starters, I actually do care about that kidney in your back, and if Dendup kills you it would go to waste."

At that, he opens the broom closet to reveal Hutch.

"Two, Dendup has turned me into a puppet just like Rash." He yanks open the cupboard and pulls Sierra out from under the sink. "And three, I fought alongside you. Saw helped me see the error of my ways. But now, you all are unorganized. You're making silly mistakes, such as recklessly driving the getaway car in an area where there are stoplight cameras."

"He got a pity license." Steela explains, jerking her head toward me.

"Hey!"

"Well, you did. I've never heard of anyone else passing the driver's test even though you ran over a mailbox."

 _"Ahem!"_ Tandin interrupts, "At any rate, it was a mistake that would have cost you all your lives." And at that, he brushes the laundry off of Lux. "Nice try, young man. But painfully obvious."

"I thought it was creative." Lux replies, working a kink out of his neck.

"Right. You also thought joining Death Watch was a good idea." Sierra shoots back.

"Will you two just stop it, _please?"_ Hutch begs.

"At any rate," Tandin continues. "This place isn't safe anymore. You need to find somewhere else to hide, and you need to go now."

"Where? We're out of places." Lux laments.

Tandin sighs, and holds out a key ring.

"It's the second key, Saw. I can't believe I'm doing this."

 **(A/N: Thank you to Kasai 1214, starwarshobbitfics, Dragonfan47, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. I actually had two questions asked this time, so I'm going to answer them here.**

 **StarwarsRulz: "** _ **With how AU this is, does Lux have a crush on Ahsoka? And does she still have a crush on Lux?"**_ **The answer is yes to both. But because of all the craziness going on, they are not exactly on each other's priority lists right now.**

 **Dragonfan47:** _ **"Is Ahsoka coming in soon?"**_ **Since all the chapters are prewritten, I can undoubtedly answer that she and the cast of "While Others Followed Orders" will be arriving. But there are a few more shenanigans for our rebels to get up to first.**

 **Did anyone have thoughts about this chapter, and the return of General Tandin? Not quite as wacky as last chapter, but trust me…I'll make up for it. Please drop a review, they are always welcome. Flames, on the other hand, are only good for lighting matches.)**


	9. We Get Chased By Mary Sues

**CHAPTER EIGHT: WE GET CHASED BY MARY SUES**

 ****Halfway to Tandin's house, Lux's face goes pale.

"Hero."

"What?" Saw asks.

"Hero's going to my house to get some of my stuff. If Dendup's flunkies are watching, then they could follow her."

Hutch whips out his comlink, and calls information.

"I need the Good Eats Diner, pronto!" he orders.

….

At the Good Eats Diner, a waitress picked up the phone.

"Thank you for calling the Good Eats Diner. This is Valerie speaking. How may I help you?"

 _"Can I talk to Hero, please?"_

"Let me look around for her," Valerie said, and just then Hero zipped by carrying a tray full of food.

Valerie counted to five, and then went back to the phone.

"I'm sorry, she's busy. Can I take a message?"

 _"No thanks. Just tell her to call Hutch as soon as possible. It's urgent."_

"Thank you, sir." Valerie said, and the caller hung up.

No sooner had the young waitress put the phone down when the hostess led a small busload of people into her section. Valerie grabbed her pen and zoomed off to take drink orders, find high chairs, and shove tables together.

After the order for jawa juice, she'd forgotten all about the phone call.

….

"That's it," Hutch says after two hours and still no call from Hero. "I'm going over there to tell her in person."

When Hutch is gone, Tandin turns to the other kids. "Head for the back room and figure out sleeping arrangements. I don't want any of you sleeping in the bathtub."

Lux starts to laugh before he realizes that making him sleep in the bathtub would be a Saw move. The kids head off off for the back room.

While Lux and Sierra are arguing over who gets the easy chair and who gets the sleeping bag, the doorbell rings.

 **SIERRA**

"Hi, General Tandin!" A perfectly perfect voice that sounds like wind chimes, flute music, and sunshine calls out.

Steela freezes. "Oh… _heck_ no!" she whispers.

I push my bangs back over my forehead. "Oh my Force. Is she omniscient?"

"Be quiet," Saw whispers, and we tune in to the Mary Sue at the door.

"Anyways," Velvet Sparkles Something I Don't Care About chirps, "Since my sissy and bubby kicked me out, which totally added to my traumatic backstory, I figured I should move in with you! That way, we can work together on our quest to find them and either turn them to our side with the sheer force of my awesomeness, and not with any logic or anything!"

All the color drains from Steela's face.

"He's not going to do that, right?" Lux whispers.

"From what the other Sues told me, she'll expect him to roll out the red carpet." Steela whispers. "Some of them said that the person they moved in with had a fully-decorated bedroom just waiting for them."

"Oh, I'm flattered." Tandin says. "But unfortunately, my house is a bit subpar at the moment."

"Really? How?" Velvet Sparkles sings.

It takes me a few seconds for the news to sink in.

 _Oh gosh, Sierra. How do you wreck a house without actually causing damage?_

And that's when I get an idea.

I tap Hutch's shoulder. "Go unplug everything in the house, anything that could create a spark." I whisper, standing up.

"What are you going to- Sierra!" Steela whispers.

Ignoring her, I tiptoe into Tandin's kitchen. There on the stove flickers a tiny blue flame. The pilot light. I blow it out like a birthday candle.

"For starters," Tandin says once he starts to smell the gas, "There's a gas leak. I have to call the company to get it fixed.

Lux tiptoes down into the utility room to shut off the gas, while Steela and I tune back in to Velvet Sparkles.

"Oh! Well, when is someone coming to fix it?"

"I have an idea, Velvet." Tandin half-begs. "How about I pay for you to stay in a hotel?"

Velvet Sparkles pauses. "Okay!" she chirps. "Just let me know when your gas leak is fixed!"

"Oh, I will!" Tandin replies, and all but slams the door. He pads into the back room. "You shut off the gas, right?"

I nod. "Do you think she's going to come back?"

"Definitely." Steela confirms. "Tandin, thanks for ditching her."

Tandin mops his brow with his sleeve. "Honestly, Steela, I just didn't want her in my house."

The doorbell rings again. Tandin sighs and heads off to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Oh, good." Hero says. "I parked in the convenience store lot, and Hutch parked behind the other apartment building. I wasn't sure we had the right building."

"You just missed it." I comment, stepping in to the front. "That Mary Sue just came here and tried to take over the house."

"Is that why I smell gas in here?" Hutch asks.

"Yeah, it's a good thing none of us smoke."

 **THIRD PERSON**

Hero Calvert walked down the sidewalk toward Tandin's apartment complex when she realized she forgot to lock her car. She unzipped her purse and started rummaging through it, looking for her car keys.

What Hero didn't notice was the other girl walking down the sidewalk. The one with color-changing hair, eyes exactly like Steela's, a voice like music, a smile like sunbeams, and a septuple-barred name.

Mary Sues have perfect memories (except when they conveniently forget something), and Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera is no exception.

So when she spots "Mean House Lady," she immediately goes running off toward the palace.

Hero finds her car keys and carries on.

Ignorance is bliss.

 **SAW**

When we finally get Tandin's gas line under control and plug in all his appliances, he clears his throat.

"While you have been fixing my gas line, Miss Gerrera and I have been talking." He says. "And we've realized that with her gone, an all-points bulletin has probably gone out."

"But won't that ruin the Lazarus project?" Lux asks.

"It's probably not for her. Dendup will send it out for all of you, assuming she's still in your company."

"Listen," Steela says. "Most of us in this room were on camera during the rebellion. The people know what we look like. If you guys are going to go out, you need to look different."

"Not a problem," Hero says. "It's not like anyone looked at me."

Hutch silently thanks the Force for his bandanna.

Lux punches the lenses out of a pair of sunglasses and slicks back his hair. The result is sufficiently nerdy.

That leaves me and Sierra.

Steela leans in the refresher doorway. "Okay, Sierra. I've gone through the house, and we've got a couple of options here. First, we can give you a little trim-."

"No!" Sierra shrieks, clutching her hair.

"In that case, come with me. We're on to option two."

The girls disappear into the refresher. About ten minutes later, the door opens again. An overpowering aroma of grapes hits my nose, and Sierra storms out of the refresher with her hair in a towel.

"You look the same," Lux comments.

Sierra snorts and rips the towel from her head, releasing more of the grape smell. Her hair is in a shower cap. And it's purple.

"It was the only flavor of drink mix." She grumbles.

Steela reappears in the doorway. "Sorry, not sorry." She says under her breath. And then in a louder voice. "Saw, you're next."

"What are you going to do, dye my hair purple?" I ask.

In response, Steela wields something even more horrifying: hair clippers.

My hands go to my soul patch. "Oh no."

"Oh, _yes."_ Steela says wickedly.

Arguing with Steela is kind of pointless, and that's how I end up sitting on the edge of Tandin's bathtub while my sister shaves off my soul patch, and…

"No way, Steel! Stay away from my sideburns!"

"Saw…"

"Not a chance in heck."

Steela switches off the clippers. "Fine. But we do have an eyebrow problem. _Hey Hero? Got an eye pencil?"_

I am utterly helpless as Steela and Hero fill in my shaved eyebrow with eyeliner, and paint the other eyebrow so it "blends".

"Is it my fault that I have an awesome scar through my eyebrow?" I ask.

"No," Steela replies. "But it's still distinctive. It at least washes out, Saw."

"Unlike my soul patch." I grumble. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to grow that?"

"Do I?" Steela snorts. "It's a little hard to forget the day you got your first facial hair."

Hero stifles laughter.

"It's not funny."

"Yeah, it is." Steela starts to mimic sixteen-year-old me. _"Dad! Steela! I have a beard!"_

I guess I'm still angry about my soul patch, because my response is. "At least I didn't sob for a half hour in the refresher because I thought I was dying."

Hero gasps melodramatically. "Dude. Low blow."

Steela takes the towel from around my neck. "You're free to go, Saw. Tandin has some clothes on the table for you.

 **LUX**

This is the dumbest mission, discounting the Carlaac incident, that I have ever been on in my life.

"What exactly are we supposed to be doing?" I ask Hutch.

Hutch glowers. "We're supposed to be looking for any suspicious changes around the palace."

"Right. And-." I look to my left, then to my right. And back again. "Hang. On. _Where is Sierra?"_

Saw shrugs. "I got rid of her."

"You what?"

"Because we're supposed to be three friends hanging out. We'd have ditched the little sister." And then in a louder voice. "So yeah, I gave her a couple credits and told her to get an ice cream."

 _Oh come on, Lux. Sierra can take care of herself in Iziz. You left her alone during the rebellion, when there was actual rioting._ My shoulder angel says.

 _That was also before she escaped from jail._ Shoulder Devil chimes in.

I go with Shoulder Angel and stay with Hutch and Saw.

"Dendup has militiamen checking anyone who tries to get into Yohlan Square." Hutch replies. "There's no way we'd get in like we did before."

"He knows what we did. He'll be prepared for it. What is that on the gates?"

Saw steps closer, and he makes a face. "One-way shield generators."

"Hey, get away from the gate, kids!" someone yells from the crowd.

Out of pure instinct, Saw and I turn around. And there he is.

Clad in a white button-down shirt and navy blue pants, with a badge reading CURFEW SECURITY. He takes a huge bite out of a sprinkle doughnut.

I'm suddenly very glad Sierra isn't here.

The dumb cop almost chokes on his doughnut. He grabs his comlink and lifts it to his lips.

"Confirmed sighting!" he mutters. "Get back here, Shaquille O'Neal!"

"Oh, this is not happening." Saw mutters. "I did not just lose my soul patch for nothing!"

Hutch slaps the back of his hand against my chest. "Dude. It just got worse."

 _"Oh my gosh, it's Saw Gerrera!"_

 _"Look at his muscles! They're so shiny!"_

 _"Saw, our love was meant to be! Your love will heal me from my super traumatic backstory!"_

 _"And you can call me 'Duckling" every time you speak to me!"_

 _"And we'll get married and have lots of kids that look exactly like us. We can name our son Gary Stu."_

Saw makes a little strangled noise, and then runs for his life.

 _"Come back, my love!"_ no less than twenty Mary Sues shriek, and run after him.

 **SIERRA**

A few minutes ago, Saw whispered. "Go check out the market, last time it was a hot spot for patrols."

So after ducking into a public refresher to count my few remaining credits, I head for Malagan Market.

 _Dendup didn't reinstall the ray shield or the lookout, but he did put in cameras._

 _Great. So there goes another semi-safe place. And Saw said was a good one, too._

"Sierra!"

My head turns.

Okay, it's dumb. Sierra is a relatively popular name, and it isn't uncommon for the Sierra the person is calling for to be someone else entirely. But this time, I can tell who said it.

Someone is standing in the street, wearing a hoodie too warm for the weather and enormous sunglasses. I can tell by the basic body shape that it's a girl.

Hoodie Chick jerks her head toward the alleyway.

 _How about no, Hoodie Chick?_

But Hoodie Chick crosses her arms, pops out her hip, and taps her foot.

My eyes bug out, and I head for the alley. Once Hoodie Chick joins me:

" _Steela?_ Is that you?"

Steela lifts the oversized sunglasses, revealing her eyes. If she hadn't struck a pose, I would never have guessed. She must have gotten into Hero's makeup, because foundation that's about six shades too light for her skin tone is slathered over her face. On her lips is blood red lipstick. The impression I get from the outfit is entirely un-Steela.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Just what I did in the rebellion. Everything." Steela replies. "Keeping you from walking into one of Dendup's cameras, keeping Hutch and Lux from skulking around like they're in a spy holo, all that."

She winces and momentarily takes pressure off one foot, then the other.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

"No, just been on my feet a while. Anyway, have you seen Saw?"

 _"Get back here, Shaquille O'Neal!"_ someone yells from the street.

"That answers my question." Steela mutters.

Saw and Hero go flying down the street, the idiot cop and a crowd of Mary Sues on their heels.

The bystanders are snickering at the name "Shaquille O'Neal."

The Mary Sues are shrieking that they want to marry Saw.

And then some cops start coming up the street.

I share a terrified look with Steela. "Those are militiamen. Not curfew rent-a-cops!"

"Split up!" she orders, and starts off down the alley.

 _Where am I going to go? The cops will remember a girl with purple hair._

 _Hold on a second. Purple hair._

And that's when I realize the quickest way to get myself out of here.

 _All right, Sierra. Ignore your gag reflex, and just do it._

"Wait, Saw! I wanna marry you!" I shriek, and take off with the Mary Sues.

 **LUX**

Hutch and I trailed behind the Mary Sues. Hopefully, the people in the streets thought we were just idiots chasing the girls.

Barely visible behind waves of physically impossible hair, Saw finds himself barely able to stay out the way of the girls. The Sues, for their part, are screaming some things to Saw that would have gotten me slapped if I'd said them.

"What are we gonna do?" Hutch asks.

"We have to get a message to Saw, some way to lose them." I reply.

"How?"

I look around. We're quickly approaching Malagan Market, and walking out the main entrance is a girl roughly my age. One look tells me she's no Mary Sue.

"Hutch, I need to borrow five credits."

"What for?" Hutch asks, trying to dig around in his wallet while running.

He hands me the chip, and I run over to the girl.

"Hey, you in the pink shirt!"

The girl freezes for a second, and then yells. "What do you want?"

I hold out the chip. "I'll give you five credits if you pretend there's an attractive male celebrity in the market."

The girl grabs the chip.

"Oh my Force! It's Anakin Skywalker!" she screams, pointing into the market. "And I think Captain Rex is in there, too!"

The Mary Sues freeze, then do an about face and start running into the market.

Smart move, girl. Every Mary Sue's dream is to marry a Jedi.

 _Oh man, does that make me a male Mary Sue?_

But after most of the Sues have disappeared into the market, a flash of purple catches my eye.

It's Sierra, walking at a leisurely pace towards us.

"Sierra, how did you get here?"

"I followed the Mary Sues."

Hutch's jaw drops. "You did what?"

"It actually wasn't that bad." Sierra shrugs.

Steela's warning flashes through my head. _"Sorry, Sierra. But you're Lux's sister, so you're already in dangerous territory."_

I shake my head. Sierra is still better than Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera. _Maybe._

"Uh, guys? Can we not be around when Hero opens her makeup bag tonight?"

"Why?"

"Because I just saw Steela, and she probably used half of it for her disguise."

 **VELVET SPARKLES**

It isn't that hard to track a person wearing a bright pink hoodie, especially when you're a Mary Sue with super-perfect vision and enhanced tracking skills!

Steela is so dumb. I don't know how she didn't appreciate my awesomeness when we were cellmates. We totally could have been best friends, and when Dendup revealed her to the people we would have been heroes together!

But no. She and Bubby had to be with their stupid friends: Mean House Lady, some dude, Lux "Super-Hot" Bonteri and his sister who is in denial that she's really a Mary Sue. To add insult to injury, Steela dyed the Bonteri girl's hair purple. Mocking me!

But never fear. I have new friends, Mary Perfect Sue and Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way! And they helped me come up with this genius plan to track Steela, and know for sure where she's going.

She walks right up to Tandin's apartment building, and pulls down her hood as she walks in the door.

I pull out my super high-tech comlink.

"Mary! Ebony! I found them!"

 **(A/N: And so the Mary Sues close in on the humorous adventures of our heroes.**

 **Thank you Kasai1214 and StarwarsRulz for your reviews! Internet cookies for both of you (::) (::). I always get really excited when I see a new review, so big thanks to everyone who's reviewing!**

 **I'd like to ask one thing of all of you: if you could drop a review saying how you think this story is going to end, or any theories or questions you have relating to it (the Sues, the Lazarus Project). Because when my beta (a friend IRL) got to this point in the story, she turned to me and said "How the heck does this have anything to do with the first story?"**

 **So if you have any theories, predicitons, questions, etc. I would love to hear them. Especially if you have read "While Others Followed Orders." I would like to see how good my foreshadowing/connecting skills are.**

 **Thanks for dropping in. I'll catch you all later)**


	10. Zapruder Film

**CHAPTER TEN- ZAPRUDER FILM**

 **STEELA**

"Okay," Hutch says. "So, we have increased surveillance at our old hotspots and security in Yohlan square, they're bringing out more cops. Even if some of them are dumb enough to believe Saw's name is actually Shaquille O'Neal."

I shake my head. "This isn't right."

"What isn't right?" Hero asks.

"Hero, I've escaped from prison. They haven't sent out alerts to the people. They aren't setting up random identification checkpoints. Security should be a lot tighter, but it's not."

"I assume it's not because Dendup feels bad." Saw shrugs.

"Maybe to lure us into a false sense of security," Sierra suggests.

"Speculating isn't going to get us anywhere," Lux says. "Let's start with what we know for sure: Dendup pushed Steela off the cliff so he could use her in the Lazarus project."

"He healed all my injuries, and blackmailed Tandin into the plot by giving me his kidney." I reply.

"The original purpose of bringing in the Mary Sues was to break Steela, but now they're being used as this uber-creepy guard." Lux continues.

"But that's not enough to dethrone Dendup. The only illegal thing he's done in this whole bouquet is push Steela." Saw snaps. "We're beating around the bush. Go back to the beginning. Did he do anything while you were in the hospital, Steel?"

"No, wait!" Sierra blurts out. "I just thought of something. How do we know Dendup pushed you, Steela?"

I give her a look. "Because I felt his hands _shove_ me back, and Hero saw it."

"Exactly. And if history knows anything, it's that eyewitness testimony is almost always wrong. If we were to go public with this, it would be filed under conspiracy theory before we could blink. Hero, think back to the cliff. Was there anybody with you, anybody who might have had a sightline?"

"Where are you going with this?" Lux asks.

Sierra looks at him. "So far, our only evidence is eyewitness testimony. But what if there was a record?"

"A record?" I ask. "Like a video?"

"What's every parent's biggest complaint about teenagers nowadays? Nobody can get off their phones. If we see anything even vaguely exciting, we take a picture of it," Sierra says. "If one of the rebels saw the gunship crashing toward the cliff…"

"They might have taken pictures." Lux interrupts. "There might be actual evidence against Dendup."

That's when Tandin speaks up and asks Hero to take a seat at the dinner table.

"Hero," he says, "Sometimes your mind remembers things that you don't know you remember. During questioning, it's helpful to mentally go back to the time we're asking about. Close your eyes, and go back to the foot of the cliff. It's hot, the gunships are shot down, your friends are cheering…"

Hero squeezes her eyes shut. "I've got it."

I'm half-tempted to ask the questions, but Tandin's the professional.

"Where are you?" he asks.

"Bottom of the cliff, next to Saw." She says. "We were using a boulder for cover. It was this big, orange thing."

"Pause that image, and take a look around, like a camera." Tandin says. "Besides Saw, is anyone else with you?"

Hero puts her head down. "No."

"All right. What happens next?"

"I see the gunship hit the cliff, Saw's too busy doing a victory dance to see what was happening. Dendup pushes Steela, she starts to fall, and Saw still doesn't notice anything. So I point and yell for him."

"What did you say?"

"'Look.' I said 'Look'."

"What about when Steela hits the ground?"

My stomach twists at the mention of me hitting the ground. I was knocked out almost instantly, but I remember the _pain._

"I ran for her, and…hold on a minute. There was this guy, he passed me, right when I started running. He helped when we picked up Steela. He couldn't have been that far behind me."

"Did he have a camera?" Tandin asks.

Hero thinks for a second, and then moans.

"He was shoving a cell phone into his pocket!"

"He had to have been taping, there's no other good reason to have a phone out!" Lux exclaims.

"What did he look like?" Tandin demands, grabbing a datapad.

Hero opens her eyes. "Tall, average build, light brown hair with a beard. He was wearing a helmet and goggles, so I didn't see his eyes."

"Was it the same kind of helmet Dono wore?" Hutch asks. Hero nods, and Hutch jumps in his seat. "Guys. I borrowed his phone to call my uncle in the city. And I remember it was warm, like someone had been using it."

"What kind of phone was it?" Tandin asks, still scribbling down Hero's description.

"It was a newer model, black." Hutch says. "It had a red and gray striped case. The guy had to punch in his passcode for me, so it's password-protected. And the screen was cracked."

Black, newer model phones with cracked screens. _Maybe it also has an audio jack, just like every other phone in the galaxy._

"Steela, Saw, Lux. Did you keep any record of your men?" Tandin asks.

"Just a book of names and contact information, in case they died." I reply. "Sierra and Hero, take your description and run it against a list of all known rebels. We have to find this guy before Dendup does."

 **SIERRA**

The list of rebels is overwhelming. No less than a thousand names.

"This is going to take days." I say.

"Not necessarily." Hero contests, pointing in the corner. "There's a search icon. You can narrow down the options."

I thank the Force for the narrow-down feature.

Hero picks up the description Tandin wrote down. _The videographer is a human, Caucasian male 20 to 25 years of age. He has light brown hair and a beard, and his skin is suntanned. He is approximately six feet tall and of average build._

 _The cell phone we think the video is stored on is a black phone about one generation back from the current model. It may be in a red and gray striped case, and the screen is cracked._

"Well it's a guy. So we can eliminate all the women." I reply.

"And then take out people who were killed or wounded," Hero says. "And when you're done, narrow it down to 20 to 25 year olds."

"Okay, okay." I mumble, bringing up the page.

"Can you put their pictures up?" Hero asks.

I select the picture icon, and the images pop up.

Hero's eyes pop out.

"That's him!" She cries, pointing.

 _"Lux!"_

Lux and Steela race in. "Did you find him?"

I pull up the videographer's page. "His name is Oswald Ruby, but people call him Oz. He's a twenty three-year-old college student studying history."

"Someone like that would film history in the making," Lux muses.

"I'm looking him up in the directory," Steela calls. "When I get his address, we're going."

 **LUX**

When Steela got Oz's address, she told Saw and I. Then we waited until Sierra went into the refresher and Hero was talking with Tandin.

And we took off like a shot.

"The girls are not going to be happy with us." Hutch says.

"Yeah, but Sierra and Hero are huge security risks." I reply. "We're not going to put the witness, the videographer, and someone who's been to jail two times in a _week_ in the same spot. That would be like putting a bulls-eye on our backs."

"But we're bringing Steela?"

"It's the only way to convince him." Steela says, pulling her hoodie even more forward and adjusting her huge sunglasses. At least she doesn't have Hero's makeup on.

"When we get to Oz's, what's the plan?" Saw asks.

"We have to get him somewhere safe," Steela says. "And we need the video."

"Saw, check the map. Where are we going?" I ask, making a right hand turn.

Saw glowers down at his phone. I think he's still sore over not being allowed to drive or else Tandin will boil him alive.

"You were supposed to have gone left, Bonteri!"

"It's all right, we'll just go around the block." I say, making another turn.

"The important thing is that we get there before Dendup does," Steela says. "Get the tape, and get Oz out."

I read the house numbers. "This is him."

"Park around the block. Last thing we need is Dendup seeing our car, and getting Oz _and_ Steela." Saw orders.

I park in somebody's garage, and open the door. When Steela walks out, the wind catches her hood.

"Keep your hood up, _Tesla."_ Saw replies.

"I hate that name so much," Steela mumbles.

Saw smiles. "How about 'Tessie,' then?"

"Saw, you believe in the end of the world?"

Since this is becoming eerily similar to Sierra's and my arguments, I butt between them.

"Stop it. Do you want to be arguing when Oswald answers the door?"

Silence.

"Thought so."

I ring the doorbell.

There's some shuffling, and then a man opens the door a crack.

"Are you Oswald Ruby?" I ask.

"Yeah, can I help you?"

"Do you own a camera, by any chance?"

The door opens a little farther, and the man from the file fills the frame.

"Commanders Gerrera and Bonteri! Uh, come in." he says, stepping aside. _Dear Force, we didn't know this guy from Yoda until a few minutes ago, but he recognize us right off the bat, and without Saw's soul patch. Yikes!_

He stops for a second. "Um, hi?" He says to Steela. "I'm Oz."

Saw jumps in before Steela can do or say anything. "This is my sister, Tessie."

 _Steela's gonna serve his head on a silver tray if he says that one more time._

 _Okay, think Lux, think! It's not like Oz is going to give up the video if I just ask. How can I even be sure he still has it?_

"Oz, what time is it?" I ask.

Oz digs into his pocket, and pulls out a cell phone. A black cell phone. With a gray and red case. 

_Eureka!_

"Nice phone," Saw points out.

"Thanks," Oz says. "It's ten hundred hours, by the way. Is something going on?"

"Yeah," Saw says. "We need to talk to you about your phone. More specifically, your videos."

Oz shoves his phone into his pocket, reaches for something with his other hand, and suddenly I am staring at the business end of a blaster pistol.

"I knew this day would come," he mutters. "But I ain't no Abraham Zapruder. Too bad for you."

Steela clears her throat.

"Oz, do you have a video of me?"

"What?" Oz demands, swiveling his aim to her. "Who are you? Why would I have a video of you?"

Steela sighs, and flicks her hood down.

She has her sunglasses halfway off before Oz screams. 

"Shut him up!" Steela orders.

Saw rushes forward, takes Oz's gun, and covers his mouth.

"Oz. Listen to me." Steela orders. "It's me, Steela Gerrera. And I'm not dead. Now, let's do this again. Do you have a video of me?"

Oz nods, and grabs his phone before punching in the passcode, tapping the screen a few times, and bringing up the video.

He presses PLAY.

The first shot is of the gunship careening into the mountain, but you can clearly see two figures: a King in a white suit, and a young woman. Steela.

In the video, Steela pushes the King down, shielding him with her body.

And then the cliff starts to crack.

"Oh, Force." Oz's voice says.

Steela and Dendup have staggered to their feet. Of the two, she is closest to safety, but Dendup has a clear shot. You can see Steela's head turning, looking for the best options.

And then Dendup raises his hands.

And shoves them into the small of her back.

He jumps onto solid ground, and the boulder falls from beneath Steela's feet. She slides down the cliff face, scrambling for some purchase.

"Oh my Force," the Oz in the video keens. "Oh my Force!"

And in the here and now: "Turn it off," Steela says. "Please, guys. I don't want to see it."

But it's too late. The speakers blast the sound of a shot, and then Oz's, Hero's, and Saw's screaming.

I pause the video. "Has anyone else seen this?" I ask.

"We need a copy on a holodisk." Saw interrupts.

"Give me the phone, Oz. Go pack a bag," Steela orders.

"Why?"

"Because you're not safe here." Steela says, grabbing the phone from him and setting down at his computer. "Lux, you have the holodisk, right?"

"Of course," I hand her the chip, and she plugs it and the phone into the modem.

"I was gonna do that." Saw mumbles.

"Why are images of a tank coming back to me?" Steela replies, rolling her eyes.

The files pop up, and Steela transfers the video to the holodisk. Making absolutely sure it's saved, she pulls the disk.

 _Okay, Lux. We have Steela herself. We have the witness. We have the proof. We have Tandin. What else do we need?_

 _We need to keep Oz safe. And quiet._

Oz walks back in.

I point to him. "Go to a hotel, and check in under a fake name."

"A _creative_ fake name." Steela interrupts, shooting both Saw and I a look.

"And whatever you do," Saw says. "Don't tell anybody about what's happened here. Just stay at the hotel and…"

"And await further instructions." I deadpan.

Oz nods, still in shock, and runs out the door.

 **(A/N: Hello again, and thank you to Starwarshobbitfics and Kasai1214 for your reviews. And especially to Kasai1214, for sharing her theory. It helped a lot, thank you.**

 **Just a quick clarification for any readers who are looking at their screens wondering what Oz is talking about when he says he "ain't no Abraham Zapruder," and why I named the chapter "Zapruder Film."**

 **The Zapruder film is the only known record of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. It is a home video shot by Abraham Zapruder, who was watching the president go by in his motorcade. Zapruder managed to capture both shots on film, and from this police were able to determine where the shots came from. While the JFK assassination is the subject of many conspiracy theories, this helps cement a little bit of the truth for everyone.**

 **Also, Oz's name is the last names of Kennedy's (Lee Harvey Oswald) and Oswald's (Jack Ruby) killers. I am a huge history buff, so I wanted to put that in there. And I while I was planning for this story, I thought "Come on, the rebels are mostly high school and college kids…somebody had to have gotten the cliff scene on tape!"**

 **Anyways, history rant over. Please drop a review! I'll see you all soon.)**


	11. We Meet Lazarus Twice

**CHAPTER ELEVEN – LAZARUS REARS HIS HEAD TWICE**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars. I do own Sierra and John Bonteri, Hero, and Oz.**

Ahsoka stared at the comlink in her hand. Sitting on her nightstand was a piece of flimsi, and scribbled on it was a comm number followed by _Call if you need anything, love Mina._

 _Mina needs to know,_ she thought.

She dialed the number. Mina picked up on the fourth ring.

 _"Hello."_

"Mina, it's Ahsoka. Do you have a minute? It's important."

 _"I do. How are you feeling?"_

"I'm doing well, my sick leave is only for a few more days." Ahsoka smiled at the soothing lilt in the woman's voice, but her face turned serious again when she remembered the reason she was calling. "But this isn't about me. It's about Lux."

 _"Lux?"_

"My master and I have called him over three times to tell him I was okay, and he hasn't picked up."

 _"That's not like him."_

"I know." Ahsoka rubs her temples. "Mina, something is radically wrong over there. I can feel it. Get on a ship."

 **LUX**

Saw goes into the bathroom to wash the eyeliner out of his eyebrow, Steela follows him to wash no less than 75% of Hero's makeup supply off her face, and Hutch goes to work.

That leaves only Sierra and I in the living room.

"Lux?" She says finally. "That Lazarus Steela was talking about, the one who protected a sick Jedi-."

"It wasn't him, Sierra."

"But it sounds like him. And we never saw his body, or Mom's."

"Did Dad like Jedi?"

Sierra chews on the end of her ponytail.

"No. But he would help kids." She replies. "He loved kids, and so did Mom. If it was a Jedi kid, they would have helped in a heartbeat."

The only missing young Jedi that comes to mind for me is Ahsoka (which only makes my stomach tie in knots over her welfare, she completely slipped my mind in all the craziness of Dendup, the idiot cop, Mary Sues, and a "resurrecting" Steela).

A mental image of my parents taking care of an ailing Ahsoka crosses my mind. It's weird.

"And while you were in the shower yesterday, Tandin and Saw took a call. They kept saying our names." Sierra continues.

The doorbell rings, and Tandin yells "I'm coming!" before shooing us into the back room.

Sierra and I continue our argument.

"It's not Mom and Dad."

"Who else could it be?"

"How many other people are compassionate?"

Footsteps approach, Tandin's voice showing someone around.

And then Sierra gasps and goes white.

"Sis!" I hiss and grab her shoulders, squaring off with her. "Sierra, are you okay?"

Sierra whispers. "Turn around."

"Turn around? Why am I turning around? You're white as a sheet! Is it a movie or something? I told Hero not to let you watch _Tusken Chainsaw Massacre."_

"Turn around." Sierra repeats.

"Okay, sis. Look, I'm turning around and there's - OH MY FORCE!"

Maybe I was on the right track with the horror movie. Because right in front of me are my parents.

My _dead_ parents.

"AAHHHH!"

Saw comes racing to the door. "Bonteri! What's going on?"

"GHOSTS!" I scream, pointing to my not-parents.

"No, it's Mom and Dad." Dad says dryly.

Sierra passes out. I catch her before she hits the ground.

Mom plucks a jogan off the counter and takes a bite.

"Do ghosts eat jogans, Lux?"

And that's the last thing I remember before the world went black.

….

"I think he's coming around."

"Step back. Give him some air," Tandin suggests.

"I know what I'm doing, General." My mom replies. "I managed to keep him alive this long, haven't I?"

"Yes Mrs. Bonteri." Tandin says meekly.

My eyes pop open and I launch upward.

"Oh, not again." Dad laments, grabbing me around my waist. "Mina, you getting déjà vu at all?"

"At least he's not going to have fits." Mom points out. "Maybe we should bring Sierra in?"

 _Oh no they don't. I don't care if it's Mom and Dad, I'm not bringing Sierra into this._

 _Then stop struggling, you meathead._ My common sense says.

I stop struggling.

"There we go," Mom says. "He's calmed down now."

"I'm not sure he's totally done." Dad replies. "Lux, please listen to me. We've talked to Sierra and Steela. The whole thing about us being dead, it was a trick."

"The Lazarus Project," I realize, my teeth setting on edge.

"Right," Mom says. "Except _all_ of us were Lazarus. Dad and I didn't know you were still alive until very recently."

"Why did Dendup want us?"

"He didn't." Dad says. "Count Dooku did. He told us a Jedi had killed you and your sister."

"Said the same thing about you guys," I reply. "A ploy to make us hate the Jedi?"

Dad nods. "And to make the Separatists look like the heroes when we were all reunited. But it backfired."

"What do you mean, it backfired?" I ask.

Dad sighs. "A few weeks ago, my CO brought your friend Ahsoka into my cells. She was sick."

My eyes widen. "That was you? You saved her?" _Oh man, Sierra is never going to let me live this one down as long as I live._

"Yes, that was us." Dad says. "I don't like Jedi, but she was just a little kid…"

"What's wrong with her? Is she all right?" I demand.

Mom nods. "She's fine, Lux. She's back with her master and Padme, and she's much better."

 _It's all right, Lux. Ahsoka is okay, and Sierra is okay, and Saw is okay, Hero is okay, Hutch is okay, and heck, Mom and Dad and Steela are all alive!_

I start laughing. If I don't laugh, I'm going to cry.

But before anybody can ask, Hero bursts through the door.

"Guys!" she says. "We're on TV!"

 **SIERRA**

"This crime will not go unpunished." The dumb cop says. "I'm looking for three kids named Shaquille O'Neal, Taylor Swift, and George Washington!"

Mom switches off the TV. "I don't want to know. I don't want to know."

"What can I say, Mom? The stupid plan gene runs in our family." Lux shrugs.

"Yeah," I scoff. "It's carried on the Y chromosome."

Lux opens his mouth to say something, but Hero cuts in front of him. "Stop it. What's important is that you didn't get caught, even with stupid names like that."

"And being chased by a bunch of Sues." I reply.

"And the cops." Saw adds.

"And we have proof Dendup committed a crime!" Lux cheers.

Dad sighs. "Lecturing them is the pot calling the kettle black, Mina. Case in point, the Tor incident?"

"True enough." Mom concedes. "Although, I would like to know why your hair is purple, Sierra."

I hold out a section of purple hair with distaste. "It's a long story, and one that's going to be dyed back as soon as-."

"T-Tandin? M-Mrs. Bonteri?"

Everyone turns in their seat.

Steela leans against the door frame, shaking.

"I-I need help," she squeaks seconds before she collapses like a sack of bricks.

 **(A/N: Oh no! What's happened to Steela now? Haven't I tortured the poor girl enough already?**

 **Thank you to StarwarsRulz, Kasai1214, and starwarshobbitfics for your lovely reviews. And Kasai1214: Besides becoming the laughingstock of Onderon? They sure are.**

 **The next chapter will be the final chapter of the story, which will lay some of the groundwork for the third story, "While Others Fell To Darkness." In the meantime, reviews keep me motivated and happy, so please drop one.**

 **Thanks,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	12. Cold Turkey

**CHAPTER ELEVEN- COLD TURKEY**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Clone Wars. I do own John, Sierra, and Hero.**

 **MINA**

 _"Steela!"_

Saw Gerrera sprints past Hutch and Hero, who are still in shock, and races to Steela's side, cradling her in his arms like people say he did at the bottom of that cliff.

I follow him, kneeling on her other side.

"What's wrong?"

Steela doesn't answer, and instead throws up all over Saw. I grab her under the shoulders and whisk her over to the sink.

"What's wrong, darling?" I ask, holding her hair back while she empties the contents of her stomach.

"I feel awful," She sputters.

I press a hand to her forehead. "You don't have a fever."

"Wait. Steela, are you on something?" Hero asks.

"What?" Saw asks incredulously.

"When my mom quit smoking, she got these awful headaches and couldn't sleep at night. Is something like that going on?"

 _Impressive, Hero. Considering Dendup essentially brought Steela back from the dead, long-term medications would make sense._

"Were you on something?" I ask.

Steela nods, right before throwing up again. I readjust my grip on her hair.

John approaches. "Steela, listen to me. Was it morphine?"

"Probably one of them was." Steela coughs.

John sighs with relief. "Well, that explains the vomiting."

"But there were lots of others."

The relief is wiped off everyone's faces.

"Do you remember any of the drug names?" Tandin prompts.

Steela blinks. "There was morphine, bacta…and then this herb. It started with a N."

John rubs his temples. "Oh no. Oh, Force no."

"What is it?" Saw asks.

"Was it nysillin?" John asks.

Steela nods, and John utters a few choice words.

"What's nysillin?" Saw demands.

"It's a healing herb." John replies. "Very effective, but it's not good if you quit cold turkey."

"Which I did." Steela mutters.

"But they weaned you off it." Sierra says. "You didn't get any medications when we were together."

"They were putting it in the food." Steela replies. "I would have tried to taper off if they didn't."

"Do you have any idea what dosages they were at?"

Steela straightens up and fills a glass with water. I let go of her hair. "Considering I could taste them in the food, they were pretty strong."

John sighs. "All right. Does anything hurt?"

Steela nods. "My feet. They hurt…a _lot."_

"Makes sense. You landed on your feet." Hero replies.

"All right, then let's get you off them." I reply, ushering her over to the couch to sit her down.

John shakes his head. "I'd put her in bed, Mina. This is just the start."

 _John, the second I get this girl tucked in you had better explain exactly what's going on._

John shrugs like _I really don't want to say it within Steela's earshot._

Okay. So it's bad, then.

I take Steela into the spare bedroom, where she's already been situated, and take her shoes so she can lie down.

"It's bad, isn't it?" she asks.

BS-ing this girl would be useless, so I tell the truth.

"I'm not sure, Miss Gerrera-."

"Please don't call me that, Mrs. Bonteri."

I sigh. "'Mina,' please, Steela. But if you need anything, just call for me."

When I get back to the living room, John is having a conference.

"At work, one of my prisoners had been on nysillin." He explains. "We couldn't get any for him for a while, so he went through withdrawal. Some of the effects were fever, chills, pain in the areas that were being healed-."

"Which explains why Steela's feet hurt," Lux muses.

John ignored him. "And to top it off, paranoia."

Saw raises his hand. "If Steela's going to get paranoid, I would make sure there aren't any throw-able objects within her arm's reach."

"Steela doesn't miss, Mom." Sierra explains to my confused look.

"Has it occurred to anyone that she probably still needs the nysillin?" I ask. "I'm not a doctor, but that was a severe fall she took. And she's been wasting in a cell for five months. Now that she's on her feet again, she probably needs it now more than ever."

John nods. "Nysillin is rare. There's no way we could buy it without drawing immediate attention to ourselves. We can give her other medicines, but there's no way we can provide that specific herb."

"So, we can't do anything? She's hurt, and we can't do anything?" Saw asks.

"No," Hero says. "There's one thing we can do. Something that's been weighing on her chest for a long time."

"What's that?"

"Ahsoka."

Lux's head pops up.

"Ahsoka?"

"Yeah," Hero replies. "Sierra told her Ahsoka thinks that this was all her fault, and Steela feels really bad about it."

"Well," Lux interrupts. "I'll call her right now."

"Lux, she doesn't know that Steela's still alive and kicking." Sierra interrupts.

"…I'll make something up."

 **THIRD PERSON**

Ahsoka Tano is supposed to be resting after her illness for another week. She has a strong feeling that Padme and Anakin exaggerated the symptoms in order to spend a week together, as a family.

You can only watch sitcoms and bake cookies with Padme for so long before you go stark raving nuts, so when she gets a call from Lux asking her to Onderon for a day or two, Ahsoka jumps on it.

"I don't know, Ahsoka." Padme fretted at the spaceport. "You're still on sick leave."

"I haven't had a fit for days." Ahsoka replied. "Anyway, Mina and John are going to be there. I'll be fine."

"All right," Padme relented. "But call me when you get there. Actually, have _Mina_ call me. And remember, the Council said you and Anakin could be called to Cato Neimoidia early!"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, and boarded the shuttle.

…

When she knocks on the door, General Tandin answers.

"Master Jedi," He said with a curt nod.

Ahsoka blushed. "Just 'Ahsoka,' please, General. Nice to see you again."

"The pleasure is all mine," he said, ushering her in.

To Ahsoka's shock Lux, John, Mina, Saw, Hutch, Hero, and a girl she didn't know were all seated in various places in the dining room.

Lux jumped to his feet, sweating nervously. "Ahsoka!" He cried, dashing toward her with his arms open.

Ahsoka felt her heart speed up as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I missed you, Lux." She replied, smiling blissfully.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were sick, otherwise I would have called or something. I can't believe I didn't do-."

Ahsoka smiled, and gave him a quick peck on the lips, effectively stopping his running mouth.

"Irony, Mr. Bonteri?" she asked mischievously.

"And so it is," Lux said right before their lips met again with a deeper kiss.

Saw fake-coughed the words "Get a room!"

Mina cleared her throat. "You know, Lux, your mother is here. The one who changed hundreds of your diapers."

The teenagers separated.

"Mom!" Lux protested.

"Ahsoka, have you met our daughter?" Mina asked, motioning to the young girl with a bad dye job.

"I'm Sierra." Bad Dye Job says with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you." Ahsoka replies, shaking her hand.

Tandin coughs. "You two can get to know each other later. But right now, we have a more pressing concern."

Ahsoka looked up. "What is that?"

Lux took her hand. "Will you follow me, please?"

"Um…sure?"

She and Lux walked down the hall, toward one of the spare bedrooms. Under normal circumstances, she would have said something along the lines of "I have lightsabers and I'm not afraid to use them," but this was different.

This time, she could sense someone inside.

"Ahsoka," Lux said softly. "I'm right beside you. Please, please remember that when you go in there."

Ahsoka's mind spun. _Who could possibly be in there to make him say that? I can't think of anybody, except,_ her blood went cold, _Tor?_

But she steeled herself, and opened the door.

Ahsoka froze solid, and squeezed Lux's hand.

"Hi," a dead girl said.

Ahsoka shook her head wildly. "This isn't real."

"My parents aren't supposed to be alive," Lux replied. "Steela is alive for the same reason."

"How?" Ahsoka cried. "You fell off a cliff."

"When doctors really want you to live, they make it happen," Steela replied.

When Ahsoka managed to peel her shocked eyes from Steela's face, she notices Steela is propped up in bed; and the only reason Ahsoka can think of for her to be in this position is that she is in immense pain. She's kicked off her covers, and Ahsoka can see her feet. They're covered in surgical scars, and so is the skin of her legs.

And it hits her, that Steela has most likely been held prisoner until now. Lux probably called her the first chance he got.

Ahsoka doesn't want to cry. Really, she doesn't. But she just can't stop the tears from flowing at the sight of what her _failure_ did to her friend.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, pulling herself away from Lux. "I should have remembered the gunship, I should have been faster-."

Steela shook her head.

"Shut up." She replies. "Ahsoka, if we're going back to that, then it's Dendup's fault for pushing me off the cliff."

"W-wha?" Ahsoka stopped crying, completely confused.

"You did the best you could, and I'm grateful for that." Steela said. "Now come here."

Ahsoka didn't move.

Against all odds, Steela smiled. "And I'm going to hug you now. I hope that's okay."

Ahsoka half-laughed-half-cried, and embraced Steela.

The only thing she could think to say is "I'm so glad you're not dead."

"Yeah, me too."

 **A/N: And that, my friends, is the end of "While Others Found Success". To get a feel for when this is happening in canon, Ahsoka and Anakin are about to go on the mission to Cato Neimodia.**

 **Thank you Starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, and Kasai1214 for your reviews. You all make me so happy.**

 **In case anyone forgot the author's note for the last chapter, there will be a third story called "While Others Fell to Darkness." We will be seeing the rebels' perspective on the Fugitive Arc as well as deeper investigation into the Lazarus Project and how to strike back.**

 **One really important thing about "WOFTD": It isn't finished yet. Therefore, it's not going to be up as fast as this sequel popped up, and updates will be slower.**

 **In order to speed it up, reviews really keep me motivated. Please, please drop one on your way out.**

 **Thanks for reading this today!**

 **~ Lux's Sister**


End file.
